RESEARCH ARTICLE


Efficacy and Safety of Percutaneous Transhepatic Portal Embolization with Dehydrated Ethanol



Ryota Hanaoka1, *, #, Tatsuo Banno1, #, Ryoichi Kato2, Hokuto Akamatsu1, Hiroshi Toyama1
1 Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Fujita Health University, 1-98 Dengakugakubo, Kutsukake, Toyoake, Aichi 470-1192, Japan
2 Faculty of Radiological Technology, School of Health Sciences, Fujita Health University, 1-98 Dengakugakubo, Kutsukake, Toyoake, Aichi 470-1192, Japan


© 2014 Hanaoka et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Radiology, Fujita Health University, 1-98, Dengakugakubo, Kutsukake, Toyoake, Aichi 470-1192, Japan; Tel: 81-562-93-9259; Fax: 81-562-95-2253; E-mail: ryotin@d1.dion.ne.jp
# These authors contributed equally to this work.


Abstract

Purpose:

The efficacy and safety of percutaneous transhepatic portal embolization (PTPE) with dehydrated ethanol was determined by measuring the liver lobe volume before and after the procedure.

Materials and Methods:

A total of 38 patients (25 men, 13 women; mean age: 62.0 ± 10.8 years) who underwent PTPE with dehydrated ethanol between April 2005 and March 2011 participated in this study. Dehydrated ethanol containing 17% lipiodol was injected into the target portal vein branch under balloon occlusion, and the portal vein was subsequently embolized. The liver lobe volume was measured via contrast-enhanced computed tomography, and the percent increase in the unembolized lobe volume was then calculated. In addition, PTPE-related complications were surveyed, and the procedural safety was evaluated.

Results:

The mean percent increase in the unembolized lobe volume after PTPE was 33.8% ± 20.2%. The procedure could not be completed in one patient because of an insufficient increase in the unembolized lobe volume. No serious post- PTPE complications were observed.

Conclusion:

These data suggest that PTPE with dehydrated ethanol is a safe and effective method for enlarging the planned residual liver volume before extensive liver resection.

Keywords: Ethanol, hepatectomy, liver cancer, portal vein embolization.