ABSTRACT
Following failure of systemic chemotherapy, transarterial chemoembolization [TACE] is an available method to control unresectable liver metastases from colorectal carcinoma [CRC]. The aim of present study was to evaluate the efficacy of chemoembolization for inoperable metastatic liver lesions from CRC. Forty-five CRC patients with liver metastases resistant to systemic chemotherapy were enrolled in our study. For each patient, three session of TACE were conducted with 45 days interval. A combination of mitomycin, doxorubicin, and lipiodol were used for TACE. A tri-phasic computed tomography scan and biochemical laboratory tests were performed for all patients at baseline and 30 days after each TACE. Image analysis included measurement of lesion diameters as well as contrast enhancement. Eleven patients deceased before completing three session and the final analyses were performed on the remaining 34 patients. Evaluation of a total 93 lesions in all patients after chemoembolization sessions revealed a 25.88% reduction in anteroposterior [AP] diameter, 33.92% transverse [T] diameter, and 42.22% in product of APxT diameter of lesions [P<0.001 for all instances]. CT scan showed a total disappearance of 33% of lesions and evident reduction in contrast enhancement in 16% of them. There were no changes in contrast enhancement in 51% of lesions. Evaluation of single largest lesion in each patient revealed 57.32% reduction in AP diameter, 59.66% in T diameter, and 62.17% in product of APxT diameters [P<0.001 for all diameters]. TACE offers a viable option for CRC patients with unresectable liver metastases by significantly reducing lesion size and contrast enhancement.
ABSTRACT
The use of noninvasive assessment tools such as multi-slice CT coronary angiography [MSCT-CA-CA] is recently considered mainly because it offers safety, patient convenience, and faster performance. The aim of the present study was to determine the ability of MSCT-CA-CA for the detection of significant stenoses in the coronary arteries, in comparison to conventional invasive coronary angiography [ICA]. A total of 58 consecutive patients who were candidate for coronary angiography, with the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome, from September 2006 to March 2006 were entered into the study. They underwent both coronary MSCT-CA-CA and ICA. The findings of each coronary segment were compared to MSCT-CA-CA in comparison with ICA. Based on artery analysis, sensitivity and specificity of MSCT-CA for the detection of involvement in RCA were 90.0% and 92.8%, in LAD were 71.8% and 92.9% and in LCX were 67.9% and 92.6%, respectively. On a per-segment basis, the sensitivity of MSCT-CA in the detection of injured segments ranged between 33.3% [for segment 11] and 100% [for segments 1, 2 and 12]. Also, specificity ranged from 63.6% [for segment 15] and 98.1% [for segment 6]. The presence of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and smoking led to the reduction of the specificity and accuracy of MSCT-CA, whereas history of diabetes mellitus could increase the specificity and accuracy of this tool. MSCT-CA has high diagnostic performance in the assessment of significant coronary artery disease. Risk factors for coronary artery disease may influence this performance