Review for 10.1186/s12876-020-01380-2 (2020)

Reviewer’ s report
Title: Retroperitoneal Laparoscopic Hepatectomy of Recurrent Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Case
Report and Literature Review
Version: 0Date: 05 Apr 2020
Reviewer: Antonio Calvo
Reviewer's report:
Dear authors.
First of all, I show you my admiration for the article. Still, I have some doubts that I would likeyou to solve for me.
1.- Title: Retroperitoneal Laparoscopic Hepatectomy of Recurrent Liver Tumors, Case Report and
Literature ReviewIt would not be more advisable to refer the title to hepatocellular carcinoma and not to livertumors. Consider this possibility as it is a clinical case, not a series of cases
2.- Recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors present a patient with a recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma without knowing theirfunctional state of the liver well, although they say that this case is a recurrent hepatocellularcarcinoma with severe cirrhosisAs we know, gold standard therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with underlying liverdisease is orthotopic liver transplantation. It would be advisable for the authors to justify if thispossibility had been considered in the evolution of the disease
3.- Surgical Information
Is it a pure retroperitoneal approach without adding additional abdominal ports, or a posteriorapproach to laparoscopic resection of segment 7? In figure 2, an image of the cavity can beobserved with a transperitoneal instrument
4- Discussion
Perhaps it describes the laparoscopic surgery a lot in the manuscript when the fundamentalobjective of the case is the retroperitoneal approach to the tumor.
5.- Pathology
The histological image does not show all the diagnostic details described. It would be desirable toinclude a fewer artefacts image, where the cellular features and the pattern that would guide thediagnosis issued were clearly defined.What technique have they performed, because it does not have the usual appearance of aHematoxylin-eosin H-E?Could you provide any other pathological images that show the details more clearly?
6.- Reference
There may be too many bibliographic citations for a clinical case. With so many, it may be
advisable not to repeat them.
Are the methods appropriate and well described?
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.
Yes
Does the work include the necessary controls?
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.
Unable to assessAre the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.
YesAre you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an
additional statistical review?If an additional statistical review is recommended, please specify what aspects require furtherassessment in your comments to the editors.
Not relevant to this manuscriptQuality of written English
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:
Needs some language corrections before being publishedDeclaration of competing interests
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