Professor Masatoshi Makuuchi has first introduced preoperative portal vein embolization (PVE) for resection of hilar cholangiocarcinoma in 1982. Since then, preoperative PVE has been widely accepted as an ancillary procedure before major hepatectomy, to prevent posthepatectomy liver failure (PHLF). The original paper, “Preoperative PVE to increase the safety of major hepatectomy for hilar bile duct carcinoma: a preliminary report,? published in Surgery 1990, has been cited over 1400 times.