Successful Treatment of Bronchial Artery Aneurysms Associated With Racemose Hemangioma by Combined Therapy of Transcatheter Bronchial Artery Embolization and Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair.

A 70-year-old man was referred to our hospital for an abnormal chest shadow. Enhanced computed tomography (CT) revealed 2-humped bronchial artery aneurysms (BAAs) associated with racemose hemangioma. The combined therapy of transcatheter bronchial artery embolization and thoracic endovascular aortic repair was performed. Postoperative CT confirmed the complete exclusion of the aneurysms with no evidence of an endoleak. Our result suggests that this combined therapy is a safe and effective treatment for BAA.

Long-term Histopathologic Follow-up of a Spherical Embolic Agent; Observation of the Transvascular Migration of HepaSphereTM.

Very few studies have been published on the long-term histopathologic follow-up of spherical embolic agents after their injection. To our knowledge, there are no reports in the literature regarding pathological analysis of the transvascular migration of HepaSphere particles. We here report a case of a patient with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who underwent liver transplantation 12 months after drug eluting microsphere transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (DEM-TACE), and long-term histopathologic follow-up of the microspheres was performed. Furthermore, to our knowledge, this is the first report in which transvascular migration of a HepaSphere particle was confirmed histologically. A 60-year-old male with chronic hepatitis B was treated with entecavir and seroconversion was obtained. The patient had decompensated cirrhosis, and desired to undergo living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). However, 2 HCC tumors of 3 cm or less were detected in his liver. The transplantation surgeon proposed DEM-TACE as a bridge therapy. The HCCs were located in the right lobe and lateral segment of the liver. A 1.9 F preshaped microcatheter (ProgreatΣ, Terumo, Japan) was selectively inserted into the A3 and anterior segmental branch, 10 mg of epirubicin was injected into each artery, and the arteries were embolized with 7 mg and 13 mg of HepaSphere loaded with epirubicin, respectively. Two months later, contrast-enhanced CT displayed a complete response. At that time, lung metastasis was suspected, but after partial lung resection, the patient was diagnosed as having inflammatory granuloma. One year after DEM-TACE treatment, LDLT was performed. No cancerous cells were detected in the area where the tumor was present, but 22 HepaSphere particles were detected. All particles were present in the interstitium. Furthermore, the transvascular migration of a HepaSphere particle was histologically confirmed. The largest and smallest HepaSphere diameters were 241.6 ± 52.5 µm and 186.5 ± 41.4 µm, respectively, and deformity was 22.6% ± 13.0 %. All the HepaSpheres detected in the examined pathological specimen were noted to be extravascular.

Successful recanalization of acute extensive portal vein thrombosis by aspiration thrombectomy and thrombolysis via an operatively placed mesenteric catheter: a case report.

Portal vein thrombosis (PVT) after hepatobiliary surgery is rare but can cause lethal and severe complications. If early diagnosis and recanalization can be achieved, the PVT is expected to be eliminated. A 70-year-old male was diagnosed as having hepatocellular carcinoma occupying the right lobe of the liver. As oligometastatic lung tumors were simultaneously detected on contrast-enhanced CT (CECT), hepatectomy was not indicated. However, the primary tumor was very large, and as large tumor size can be associated with an unfavorable prognosis, and owing to the strong desire of the patient, he underwent right lobe hepatectomy. Jaundice appeared on post-operative Day (POD) 2 and CECT displayed slight intraheptatic bile duct dilation. However, a PVT did not exist at this time. Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage was performed and Doppler echo displayed intrahepatic and extrahepatic PVT on post-operative Day 5. Emergent thrombectomy was performed using a Vasplyser PlusTM thrombus aspiration catheter (Johnson & Johnson K.K. Medical Company, Tokyo, Japan) via the ileocolic vein under laparotomy. The mesenteric catheter was placed at the distal point of the residual PVT. Thrombolysis and anticoagulant therapy were performed using heparin and urokinase. In the CECT performed 16 days after the additional operation, the PVT had disappeared and the portal vein was completely recanalized. The mesenteric catheter was removed on the same day and oral anticoagulant therapy was continued. At the time of writing, 14 months have passed with no recurrence of PVT. Early diagnosis of PVT enables treatment with emergent thrombectomy, thrombolysis, and anticoagulant therapy. These treatments result in the improvement of portal vein flow and the complete disappearance of PVT.

Salvage Embolization and Histologic Analysis of Gastric Cancer with Hemorrhagic Shock Using Spherical Embolic Material.

BACKGROUND: In a recent study, it was reported that transcatheter arterial embolization with spherical embolic material for life-threatening hemorrhages in various cancer patients was safe and effective. Calibrated microspheres are able to access distal regions of the target arteries, which results in the disappearance of tumor staining. However, there are few reports on the pathological behavior of EmboSpheres in gastric cancer specimens. In this case, we succeeded in salvage embolization for advanced gastric cancer with hemorrhagic shock using spherical embolic material. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a pathological evaluation of spherical embolic microspheres in a gastric cancer specimen. CASE REPORT: A 70-year-old man with scirrhous gastric cancer was admitted to our hospital for staging laparoscopy. Unfortunately, he had a sudden onset of hematemesis and melena leading to hemorrhagic shock due to bleeding from the gastric cancer. While undergoing a rapid blood transfusion, he underwent emergent embolization to achieve hemostasis. The left gastric and right gastroepiploic arteries were embolized with spherical embolic material, and the patient survived. Two days later, the patient was able to undergo gastrectomy. A large number of microspheres were observed in areas of hemorrhage. The range and median diameter of the minor axis were 177-1048 µm and 281 µm, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Transcatheter arterial embolization using spherical embolic material could become one of safe and effective options, especially when there is no extravasation or pseudoaneurysm but only tumor staining from the clinical and pathological point of view.