A Single-Center Retrospective Comparison of Doxorubicin-Loaded HepaSphere Transarterial Chemoembolization with Conventional Transarterial Chemoembolization for Patients with Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

PURPOSE: To compare doxorubicin-loaded HepaSphere transarterial chemoembolization versus conventional transarterial chemoembolization in terms of survival, time to recurrence, acute reversible hepatotoxicity, postembolization syndrome, and chemoembolization-related mortality and morbidity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred twenty-six patients (103 men, 23 women; mean age, 64.3 y) with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who underwent conventional chemoembolization between January 2007 and March 2011 or drug-eluting embolic (DEE) chemoembolization (after the protocol change) between March 2011 and October 2014 were included in a retrospective analysis. Primary outcome measures were survival and time to recurrence. Secondary outcome measures were frequency of recurrence, technical success, acute reversible hepatotoxicity, postembolization syndrome, and chemoembolization-related mortality and morbidity. RESULTS: The technical success rate was 97.1%. There were no significant differences between the conventional and DEE chemoembolization groups with regard to mean survival duration (39.0 vs 37.4 mo), recurrence (32.9% vs 39.6%), postembolization syndrome (90% vs 89%), and chemoembolization-related mortality (5.5% vs 1.9%) and morbidity (9.6% vs 9.4%; P > .05). The time to recurrence was shorter in DEE chemoembolization-treated patients than in conventional chemoembolization-treated patients (5.0 vs 11.5 mo; P = .006), and acute reversible hepatotoxicity occurred more frequently after conventional chemoembolization (P = .019). CONCLUSIONS: Conventional chemoembolization and DEE chemoembolization were safe and effective interventions for unresectable HCC. DEE chemoembolization was not better than conventional chemoembolization in terms of survival and was associated with a shorter time to recurrence. Acute reversible hepatotoxicity occurred more frequently after conventional chemoembolization.

The association of oxygen saturation, tomography findings and D-dimer levels in coronavirus disease 2019 patients.

: Coronavirus disease is a highly contagious disease caused by systemic acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 with high mortality rates. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between serum D-dimer levels and tomography findings at the time of admission in patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study included 94 patients, 48 women (51%) and 46 men (49%), diagnosed by PCR method. Patients without any suspicious findings on thorax tomography and having oxygen saturation above 90% at the time of presentation were included as the first group. Patients with suspicious tomography findings but having oxygen saturation above 90% were designed as the second group, and patients with both suspicious tomography findings for COVID-19 and low oxygen saturation levels (<90%) at the time of admission were taken as the third group. Patients with oxygen desaturation were significantly older than the patients with normal oxygen saturations (P = 0.001). Patients with thorax tomography findings were having significantly higher D-dimer levels (P = 0.001). Patients with oxygen desaturation were having significantly higher D-dimer levels than the patients with normal oxygen saturations (P = 0.001). There was a significant negative correlation between oxygen saturation and D-dimer levels in all patients with and without tomography findings (r = -0.301, P = 0.016). Similarly, there was a significant positive correlation between the oxygen saturation and the lymphocyte count (r = 0.300, P < 0.017). Thorax tomography and D-dimer levels significantly correlate in patients with suspected COVID-19 admission. It should be kept in mind that patients with low oxygen saturation and high D-dimer levels may have serious lung involvement.