Comparison of resection, liver transplantation and transcatheter oily chemoembolization in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Resection and liver transplantation are currently considered as the most useful treatments for hepatocellular carcinoma. However, transcatheter oily chemoembolization may be favourably compared with these two surgical treatments in patients with anatomically operable tumors. METHODS: Between 1985 and 1991, 122 patients with an Okuda stage I tumor were hospitalized in two French hospitals. Among these patients, 33 remained untreated, 42 were treated by transcatheter oily chemoembolization, 30 by resection and 17 by liver transplantation. The four groups were closely comparable except for age, the patients in the two surgical groups being significantly younger. Moreover, the frequency of pTNM II tumor was significantly higher in the resection group. RESULTS: The 5-year probability of survival was close to 45% in each of the three treated groups and was significantly higher than in the untreated group (0% at 4 years, p < 0.0001). The probability of cancer recurrence and/or metastatic dissemination was lower after transcatheter oily chemoembolization than after surgery. CONCLUSION: Thus, transcatheter oily chemoembolization seems comparable at 5 years with resection or transplantation for the treatment of resectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Transcatheter oily chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma. A 4-year study of 127 French patients.

BACKGROUND: In Western countries, only a small proportion of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can be treated with surgical resection. For other patients, locoregional management by transcatheter oily chemoembolization seems to be useful and warrants evaluation. METHODS: One hundred and twenty-seven French patients with an inoperable HCC were treated by transcatheter oily chemoembolization. The efficiency of the treatment was assessed by a comparison of this group with a group of 127 untreated patients. Each patient of the treated group was matched closely with an untreated patient for all the main clinical, anatomic, and biologic features that characterize the spontaneous evolution of HCC. RESULTS: The overall probabilities of survival in the treated group were 64%, 38%, 27%, and 27% at 1, 2, 3, and 4 years, respectively; those for the untreated group were 18%, 6%, and 5% at 1, 2 and 3 years, respectively (P < 0.0001). The survival was significantly increased in patients with Okuda Stage I and II disease (P < 0.0001), but not in those with Stage III. Karnofsky and Child-Pugh scores remained stable during the follow-up period and dropped only shortly before patients died. CONCLUSION: Transcatheter oily chemoembolization is an efficient treatment for unresectable HCC for the palliation of symptoms as well as for the prolongation of survival with a good quality of life.

Transcatheter oily chemoembolization in the management of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhosis: results of a Western comparative study in 60 patients.

Transcatheter oily chemoembolization is widely used as palliative therapy for inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma in high-incidence Asiatic areas. To assess its usefulness in the Western form of this cancer, 30 French patients were treated between 1987 and 1990 by intraarterial hepatic injection of a Lipiodol-doxorubicin emulsion followed by embolization with 0.5 to 1 mm gelatin sponge particles. The number of procedures ranged from one to five. All patients had advanced, symptomatic and inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma (Okuda's staging: I, n = 8; II, n = 14; III, n = 8); none was found under systematic screening. All had underlying cirrhosis (Child-Pugh's class: A, n = 15; B, n = 12; C, n = 3) that was alcoholic in origin in 27 cases and posthepatitic B in origin in 3 cases. The results of the treatment were assessed by comparison with a group of 30 untreated patients admitted to the same unit between 1984 and 1987. Patients of both groups were closely matched for clinical presentation, global disease staging and precise anatomical extension. The overall 1- and 2-yr survival rate was 59% and 30%, respectively, for the treated patients vs. 0% at 1 yr for the untreated patients. The latter all died from local disease with end-stage liver failure and/or uncontrollable variceal bleeding. In the former, the three patients with Child's class C cirrhosis died after the first procedure. During the follow-up (range = 3 to 26 mo), 11 additional patients died, 8 from metastatic generalization.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Percutaneous atherectomy with the Kensey catheter: early and midterm results in femoropopliteal occlusions unsuitable for conventional angioplasty.

Forty-six femoropopliteal occlusions in 44 patients (aged 45-95 years) were recanalized with the percutaneous rotating tip atherectomy catheter completed by balloon dilatation. Thirty-one patients had tight intermittent claudication of the lower limbs, five had resting pain and 10 had skin disorders. The length of the occlusion ranged from 2 to 24 cm. Of 46 procedures, 40 (87%) were immediately successful (increase of mean Doppler systolic ankle-arm index from 0.44 to 0.89) and six (13%) were failures. In two it was impossible to pass through the lesion and in four arterial perforation occurred without any clinical consequences. Of the six failures, five occurred in calcified arteries. Five recanalizations (11%) reoccluded within 48 hours, bringing the total number of early failures to 11. Of these 11 failures, nine were treated by femoropopliteal vein bypass and two by medical treatment only. Two postoperative asymptomatic posterior tibial artery embolisms were treated medically, and one popliteal artery embolism was treated using a Fogarty catheter. At the present time, 25 of 35 primary successes had been followed for six months, and 20 for 12 months with primary patencies 18 of 25 (72%) and 14 of 20 (70%), respectively. If massively calcified lesions are excluded, femoropopliteal recanalization with the percutaneous rotary Kensey atherectomy catheter followed by balloon catheter dilatation is efficacious and reliable with an 80% primary success rate and a 70% patency rate at one year.

[Peripheral arterial recanalization using a Kensey catheter]. / Désobstruction artérielle périphérique par cathéter de Kensey.

Between June 6 1988 and September 30 1989, 46 superficial femoral obliterations in 44 patients were treated by rotary atherectomy, completed by conventional dilatation in 40 patients. The 44 patients (27 males and 17 females), mean age over 66.5 years (45 to 90), presented symptomatic superficial femoral obliterations (17 tight stage, two occlusions, 5 stage III, and 10 stage IV occlusions), with mean length of 9.8 cm (2 to 24 cm). Vascular echography was performed systematically before the procedure, to assess the extent of intraluminal calcification. Moreover, a control venous angiography was performed on the third day. Of the 46 treated arteries, the occlusions which had remained impermeable with a traditional guidewire were traversed successfully and without incident in 40 cases (87%). In case 20, the massively calcified obliteration could not be traversed, and perforation occurred in four cases, but without clinical consequences. In five other cases (11%), precocious reocclusion occurred before the 48th hour. It should be pointed out that, in 2 of these 5 cases, no additional conventional dilatation had been performed at the beginning of the trial. In 35 cases (76%), satisfactory permeability with residual stenosis less than 30% was thus obtained upon discharge from the hospital. For these patients, the lower limb/upper limb Doppler index rose from 0.44 to a mean 0.89 after treatment. 2 embolism were observed: one popliteal treated by embolectomy. The mid term permeability at 6 months is 80% among the 25 primary successes.

[MRI study of parathyroid adenoma. Value of T2-weighted sequences]. / Exploration IRM de l'adénome parathyroïdien. Intérêt des séquences pondérées en T2.

The authors report a series of 22 patients operated for primary hyperparathyroidism. The parathyroid adenoma was located preoperatively by MRI and ultrasonography. Measurement of the relaxation time was performed in vitro at 37 degrees C in a 0.47 Tesla field during the 30 minutes following resection. The relaxation times obtained at a precession frequency of 20 mHz were 0.844 +/- 0.16 sec for T1 and 0.082 +/- 0.025 sec for T2. MRI had a sensitivity of 73% and a specificity of 88% for the localization of the parathyroid adenoma, while ultrasonography had a sensitivity of 73% and a specificity of 98%.

[Does echography contribute to the diagnosis and treatment of acute unknown, tied or bilateral torsion of testis?]. / L'échographie apporte-t-elle quelque chose dans le diagnostic et le traitement des torsions aiguës méconnues, unies ou bilatérales du testicule?

The authors present three cases of testicular torsion lately seen after a mistaken diagnosis. The interpretation of scrotal ultrasonographic examination was difficult. The authors insist to a carefully interpretation of an ultrasonographic examination in this cases particularly.

[Wilms' tumor in adults. Apropos of a case]. / Tumeur de Wilms de l'adulte. A propos d'une observation.

Nephroblastoma is a rare tumor in adult. We report here one case in which all the radiological examination were performed. The diagnosis was made by histological study. As a rule, except if some signs are present, it's impossible to suggest diagnosis on X-rays.

[Study by radioactive microspheres of bone microcirculation in aseptic osteonecrosis of the femoral head]. / Etude par microsphères radioactives de la microcirculation osseuse dans l'ostéonécrose aseptique de la tête fémorale.

Thirty-two hips affected by aseptic necrosis, four of them post-traumatic and 12 contralateral hips thought to be healthy have been studied by combining superselective arteriography with the injection of radioactive microspheres. It has been possible to show that aseptic necrosis begins with a global ischaemia and is followed by an incomplete revascularisation leaving a necrotic area. On the border between the two areas hypervascularity produces a zone of fragility where microfractures develop with detachment of a sequestrum. The presumed opposite hip is almost always, even in traumatic lesions, the site of a hypovascularity which seems to suggest a predisposition to the lesion. There is a correlation between radiological and clinical worsening and the development of revascularisation in the femoral head.

[Pheochromocytoma of the organ of Zuckerkandl]. / Phéochromocytome de l'organe de Zuckerkandl.

The authors report the case of a pheochromocytoma of the organ of Zuckerkandl in a 46 year old man. The clinical presentation was severe paroxysmal hypertension; the tumour was located by arteriography, CT scanning, and by scintigraphy with iodine labelled benzylguanidine. The blood pressure returned to normal after surgery. The embryological, anatomical and physiological features of the organ of Zuckerkandl are reviewed: the authors discuss briefly the modern methods of diagnosis and localisation of the tumour.

[Radiological exploration of the inferior vena cava in nephroepithelioma]. / L'exploration radiologique de la veine cave inférieure dans les néphroépithéliomes.

The development of non-invasive procedures, namely ultrasonography and computed tomography, has modified the strategy for evaluating the spread of a nephroepithelioma to the inferior vena cava. When a complete study can be performed, ultrasonography is the most informative method. Angiographic studies are only performed as the second choice.

[Postoperative thyroidal arteriovenous fistula of late manifestation or disclosed 14 years after thyroidectomy]. / Fistule artério-veineuse thyroïdienne post-opératoire de révélation tardive ou révélée 14 ans après une thyroïdectomie.

A postoperative arteriovenous fistula of the upper thyroidal pedicle was detected 14 years after thyroidectomy. Treatment in this rare case was by elective surgical excision of the fistula.