ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate DSA- estimated hepatic arterial hemodynamics of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) determined shortly after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) plus sorafenib treatment. Methods The clinical data of thirty HCC patients treated with TACE were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into study group (n = 13) and control group (n = 17). Patients in the study group received additional oral administration of 400mg sorafenib twice a day one week before or two weeks after TACE procedure, while patients in the control group received TACE only. The initial DSA images as well as the images obtained at three months after TACE were analyzed. With the help of Photoshop software, the grey gradient of the tumor staining was measured on the series dynamic DSA images, based on which the time- density curve of the tumor was drawn. The peak density value (PV), the time to reach the peak (TP) and the slope of the upslope (SU) were determined, and the results were compared between the two groups. Results Photoshop software was used to measure the grey density values of the tumor staining on DSA images. In the study group, the post- treatment PV was smaller than the pre- treatment one, which were (38.0 ± 14.6) and (46.7 ± 18.4) respectively, the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P = 0.040). The post- treatment PV of the study group was also smaller than that of the post -treatment PV of the control group (54.4 ± 19.8), and the difference between the two was also statistically significant (P = 0.011). No significant differences in TP values and SU values existed between the two groups as well as between the pre - treatment and post - treatment ones in each group. Conclusion After TACE.