Anatomical study of the caudate lobe of the liver on hepatic casts and the dawn of isolated caudate lobectomy

Surgical resection of the caudate lobe of the liver remains the final hurdle for liver surgeons, not only in open hepatectomy but also in recent minimally invasive hepatectomy. In the dawn of liver surgery, Prof. Kumon made hepatic casts and showed the anatomy of the caudate lobe of the liver based on the portal segmentation in the National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo. Meanwhile, liver surgeons in the center successfully performed isolated caudate lobectomy of the liver for liver cancers one after another. Prof. Kumon is still dissecting hepatic casts to demonstrate the right border of the paracaval portion of the caudate lobe against segment VIII of the liver. An approach to right hemihepatectomy preserving the paracaval portion of the caudate lobe was developed thanks to the detailed anatomical knowledge of the liver based on hepatic casts.