Intraductal Cooling via a Nasobiliary Tube During Radiofrequency Ablation of Central Liver Tumors Reduces Biliary Injuries.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to determine the safety and efficacy of intraductal perfusion of chilled 5% dextrose in water (D5W) via an endoscopic nasobiliary tube (NBT) for the prevention of thermal bile duct injury in patients undergoing percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of central liver tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective study comparing outcomes of 32 consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous RFA of central liver tumors without intraductal perfusion of chilled D5W (control cohort) and 14 consecutive patients who underwent temporary intraductal perfusion of chilled D5W at 2 mL/s via endoscopic NBT placement before RFA (endoscopic NBT cohort). The primary and secondary outcomes were the rate of biliary complications and local tumor progression, respectively. RESULTS: All patients tolerated the procedures well. There was a significantly lower rate of biliary complications in the endoscopic NBT cohort (0/14 patients, 0%) than in the control cohort (10/32 patients, 31%) (p < 0.03) with a trend toward improved preservation of liver function in the endoscopic NBT cohort (12/14 patients, 86%) compared with the control cohort (20/32 patients, 62%) (p = 0.05). There was no difference in the rate of local tumor progression between the endoscopic NBT cohort (4/19 tumors, 21%) and the control cohort (9/39 tumors, 23%) (p = 1.0). CONCLUSION: Perfusion of chilled water through an endoscopic NBT helps prevent thermal biliary injury during RFA of central liver tumors without increasing rates of local tumor progression.

Prevalence of incidental findings on abdominal computed tomography angiograms on prospective renal donors.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of incidental findings on preoperative abdominal computed tomography angiography-computed tomography urography in asymptomatic prospective renal donors. METHODS: A Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant, Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved retrospective study of 1,597 subjects undergoing renal transplant evaluation from June 1, 2006, to March 31, 2011, was performed. Candidates underwent multiphasic multidetector computed tomography angiography-computed tomography urography for presurgical evaluation of renal vascular and parenchymal anatomy. All scans were reviewed by one of three fellowship-trained abdominal radiologists. The diagnoses were made on the basis of computed tomography characteristics of each lesion, and pathology confirmation was available for seven patients. We calculated the prevalence of each incidental finding, performed Fisher exact test or chi-square test for categorical variables between the cohort that did and did not undergo donor nephrectomy, and performed simple linear logistic regression analysis of incidental findings which predicted renal donation. RESULTS: Of the 1,597 potential donors, 58.4% were female, and the mean age was 42.6 years (range, 18-74). One thousand one hundred ninety-five (74.9%) had a total of 2,105 incidental findings. Based on American College of Radiology Incidental Findings Committee White Paper on Managing Incidental Findings on Abdominal Computed Tomography, 17.3% had incidentalomas and 1.1% required follow-up. Majority of the incidental findings (16 of 17) were in patients who did not undergo renal donation. The prevalence of pathologically proven malignancy was 0.1% (3 of 1,597). CONCLUSION: Preoperative computed tomography angiography-computed tomography urography not only identifies vascular anatomy but may also help detect clinically significant unanticipated findings in an otherwise healthy population.