A case of surgical treatment for solitary lymph node recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma simultaneously developed in the mediastinum and abdominal cavity

We report a surgically treated case of lymph node recurrence from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that occurred simultaneously but individually in the mediastinum and abdominal cavity with no metastasis. A 52-year-old man had undergone left lateral segmentectomy for poorly differentiated HCC. Three months after surgery, abdominal computed tomography revealed an enlarged solitary lymph node along the common hepatic artery. Another isolated mediastinal lymph node was also positive on whole body 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography. Because no other metastatic lesions were identified, we resected these two lymph nodes under a diagnosis of lymph node metastases from HCC. Histopathologically, both of them were classified as poorly differentiated HCC with solid growth. No further recurrence has been found during 20-month follow-up period. Our experience suggested that even though metastatic lymph nodes of HCC were present in the mediastinum and abdominal cavity, resection may provide survival benefit if each metastasis is individually solitary.