Liver Surgery MCQs — Free Practice Questions (1–10)
This is a free practice page from mcqsurgery.com. It contains Liver MCQs (Questions 1–10) with your provided explanations (included exactly as written) plus additional teaching points for each question.
Q) Which of the following structures is not part of the portal triad in liver?
1.b
Hepatic vein do not form part of the portal triad.
It forms the central vein around which the hepatocytes are arranged and on the
periphery is the portal triad consisting of Portal Vein posteriorly, the bile duct on the right and Hepatic artery on the left
Teaching Points:
- Portal triad = Portal vein + Hepatic artery + Bile duct.
- Hepatic veins drain central veins into the IVC and are not part of portal triads.
- Typical arrangement in portal tract: PV posterior, BD right, HA left.
Q) Which of the following risk factors has the least association with the development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)?
2. c
Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C have known association with cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
Other significant risk factors are
Chronic alcohol abuse
Smoking
Aflatoxins
Nitrates, Nitrites
Haemochromatosis, Wilson, Aplpha 1 Antitrypsin deficiemcy
Throrotrast
Associations with hormonal manipulations such as the use of oral contraceptive agents and anabolic steroids have been suggested but are weak
Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C are well-established major risk factors for Hepatocellular Carcinoma due to their chronic inflammatory and fibrotic effects on the liver. Smoking is also associated with an increased risk, likely due to the carcinogenic compounds that can promote hepatic tumorigenesis. In contrast, while early studies suggested a possible link between long-term OCP use and liver tumors (especially benign hepatic adenomas), there is no strong evidence to support a significant association between OCPs and HCC.
Teaching Points:
- HBV and HCV are the strongest viral risk factors for HCC.
- Consider aflatoxin exposure, alcohol, haemochromatosis as additional risks.
- OCPs are more classically linked to hepatic adenomas rather than HCC.
Q. Which is not a paraneoplastic syndrome for Hepatocellular Carcinoma ?
3. d
Less than 1% of cases of HCC present as a paraneoplastic syndrome
Paraneoplastic syndromes such as diarrhea, hypoglycemia, erythrocytosis, and hypercalcemia
may also be present and are generally associated with poor prognosis
Hepatocellular carcinoma can be associated with several paraneoplastic syndromes, including:
Hypercalcemia – due to ectopic production of parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP)
Hypoglycemia – often seen in advanced tumors due to increased glucose consumption by the tumor or decreased hepatic gluconeogenesis
Polycythemia – due to ectopic erythropoietin production
These paraneoplastic features may be the first clinical clue in a patient with underlying liver disease developing HCC.
Teaching Points:
- Hyperglycemia is NOT a paraneoplastic feature of HCC.
- Recognize hypoglycemia, hypercalcemia, and erythrocytosis as possible paraneoplastic clues.
- Paraneoplastic signs often indicate advanced tumour burden.
Q. A 60-year-old man presents with right upper quadrant pain, jaundice, and melena. He is diagnosed with hemobilia.Which of the following is the most likely cause of his symptoms?
4.b
This patient presents with Quincke’s triad (right upper quadrant pain, jaundice, and GI bleeding), which is characteristic of hemobilia. Given his recent liver biopsy, the most likely cause is iatrogenic trauma, which is the leading cause of hemobilia in modern clinical practice.
Earlier Blunt Abdominal trauma was the most common cause of Hemobilia.
But recently with the advent of more interventional procedures like PTBD (Percutaneous Transhepatic Biliary Drainage), hemobilia has become more common.
Teaching Points:
- Quincke’s triad = RUQ pain, jaundice, GI bleeding — think hemobilia.
- Iatrogenic causes (biopsy, PTBD, ERCP) are now commonest.
- Always ask about recent interventions in such patients.
Q Which is not true regarding Haemangioendothelioma of liver?
5.d
Hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (HEHE) is a rare, low- to intermediate-grade vascular tumor. It often presents with multifocal liver involvement in young to middle-aged adults. The diagnosis is confirmed via histopathology and immunohistochemistry (positive for endothelial markers like CD31, CD34, and CAMTA1). Due to its unpredictable behavior and resistance to chemotherapy, liver transplantation is considered the treatment of choice, especially in multifocal disease without extrahepatic spread.
Extra hepatic spread is seen in 25% only
Death is usually due to liver failure.
All other options are correct
Teaching Points:
- HEHE is rare and frequently multifocal; immunohistochemistry (CD31, CD34, CAMTA1) helps diagnosis.
- Extrahepatic spread ~25%, not 50%.
- Consider transplantation for multifocal disease without prohibitive extrahepatic disease.
Q 55 year old male undergoes TIPS for refractory ascites Which of the following is not true about shunt encephalopathy?
c
Key to the management of encephalopathy is identifying and then eliminating whatever precipitating factors are responsible.
All infections should be treated, all sedatives should be discontinued, and intestinal catharsis should be accomplished.
Pharmacologic treatment of encephalopathy is indicated for patients with chronic, intermittent symptoms and for those with persistent, acute psychoneurologic disturbances despite elimination of precipitating factors.
The only drugs with proven effectiveness are neomycin, a poorly absorbed antibiotic that suppresses urease containing bacteria, and lactulose, a nonabsorbable disaccharide that acidifies colonic contents and also has a cathartic effect
Unproven therapies for encephalopathy include the enteral or parenteral administration of branched-chain amino acids and the drug flumazenil, a selective antagonist of benzodiazepine receptors
Teaching Points:
- First-line: identify precipitating factors, treat infections, stop sedatives, provide bowel cleansing.
- Lactulose and antibiotics (neomycin / rifaximin) have proven benefit for chronic/recurrent encephalopathy.
- Shunt reduction/occlusion can be considered when encephalopathy is refractory.
Q) Which of the following statements is true for cryoablation in metastatic colorectal liver secondaries?
a
Cryotherapy is a good ablation for unresectable liver cancer.
It has a 2 year survival of 60% in unresectable group.
Big sized blood vessels are relatively not affected much because of the rapid blood flow which prevents injury
but larger bile ducts are at risk of injury.
Cryotherapy is generally avoided at sites near major bile ducts.
Bleeding from the probe tract is never a major problem as it can easily be embolized
Teaching Points:
- Heat-sink or flow-sink effect of large vessels protects them from cryoinjury.
- Cryoablation near major bile ducts risks ductal injury—avoid those locations.
- Probe tract bleeding is manageable with embolization if needed.
Q) Which of the following statements about shock liver is incorrect?
a
In shock liver, liver enzymes (AST, ALT) rise rapidly, often within hours, and LDH levels are markedly elevated, not mildly. The condition usually resolves with correction of the underlying cause, and liver failure is rare.
Histologically, it is characterized by centrilobular (zone 3) necrosis, as this region is most susceptible to hypoxia. Recovery is usually possible if the underlying cause is reversed.
Teaching Points:
- Shock liver (ischemic hepatitis) causes rapid marked transaminitis (AST/ALT often in thousands).
- Histology: centrilobular (zone 3) coagulative necrosis.
- Treatment: correct underlying hemodynamic instability promptly.
Q) What is not true regarding Ultrasound Microbubble Contrast Agents in detecting focal lesions in the liver
d
Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound is a new modality which consists of injecting contrast bubbles in the circulatuion and as these contrast get adherent to the Kupffer cells of liver, they emit acoustic signals which are then picked up by the USG probe.
Now 2nd generation contrast bubbles are available that emit acoustic signals as they contract and expand. These bubbles remian in circulation and detection of arterial and portal phase becomes easier
Advantages over CT scan are
1 the microbubble contrast agents are real blood-pool agents not leaving the intravascular space
2 A continuous imaging over the whole enhancement period with high temporal resolution is possible, not limited to distinct, pre-defined time points
Other advantages are no exposure to radiation, absence of nephrotoxic contrast agents and large availability of machines.
In comparison with CT and/or dynamic MRI, SonoVue®-enhanced sonography applied for characterization of focal liver lesions was 30.2% more sensitive in the recognition of malignancy and 16.1% more specific in the exclusion of malignancy and overall 22.9% more accurate.
Teaching Points:
- CEUS microbubbles are intravascular blood-pool agents—allow continuous, real-time imaging of enhancement phases.
- Advantages: no ionizing radiation, no nephrotoxic contrast, high temporal resolution.
- CEUS performance vs CT/MRI depends on lesion type and expertise—CEUS is not categorically inferior.
Q) Which of the following regarding post operative outcome following major hepatic resection is true?
Ans ) a
Despite a long list of functional, biochemical tests and imaging studies, the clinical examination by an experienced hepatic surgeon remains the most important issue in major hepatic resections.
With improvements in surgical technique, anesthesia and ICU care liver resection now has a mortality of less than 3%
Child Pugh System was initially developed for patients of Postal Hypertension who underwent a shunt procedure. It has three objective (Bilirubin, Ascites, INR) and two subjective (Ascites, Encephalopathy) criteria
Teaching Points:
- Clinical assessment and patient selection by experienced surgeons are vital for good outcomes.
- Contemporary operative mortality after major hepatic resection is much improved (<3% in many centers).
- Child-Pugh includes objective and subjective parameters—know its components and limitations.