ABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo investigate the technique,safety and clinical value of CT-guided percutaneous interstitial brachytherapy for metastatic carcinoma of lymph nodes in mediastinum.Methods Eight patients with metastatic carcinoma of lymph nodes in mediastinum were treated by CT-guided interstitial implant of radioactive seeds in our department.Anterior approach were performed on all cases,125I radioactive seeds were implanted by setting CT Gantry at an oblique angle,three-dimensional reconstruction with SCT and separation the narrow gap between aortic arch and superior vena cava with fiatscalp core.Dose distributions were checked by TPS after operation.The improvement in clinical symptoms and lymph node sizes were documented in order to investigate the therapeutic effects.ResultsThe particle coverage rate was 93.5％ ± 1.5％.According to the CT scans two months later,3 patients ( 37.5％ ) had complete ablation,4 (50％) partial ablation,and 1 ( 12.5％ ) stable disease.Overall response rate (CR + PR) for this group of patients was 87.5％.The symptoms of all patients including shortness of breath (5 patients),cough (4 patients),dysphagia (4 patients) showed varying degree of improvement.No edema of head-and-neck and upper extremity was observed.There was no major vascular,tracheal and esophageal injury.A small amount of pneumothorax was observed in one patient.ConclusionsCT-guided percutaneous interstitial brachytherapy,a minimally invasive procedure associated with favorable therapeutic results,is a promising technique for treatment of metastatic carcinoma of lymph nodes with local pressure symptoms which may not respond to conventional therapy.