Interventional treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma with hepatic arterio-portal shunts:comparision of ethanol-soaked gelatin sponge and gelatin sponge / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effect of embolization with ethanol-soaked gelatin sponge for the treatment of arterioportal shunting (APS) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods From January 2016 to June 2017, a total of 78 patients with unresectable HCC were enrolled in this study. These patients were randomly divided into two groups by digital random method. The experimental group (n=39) received transarterial embolization of the shunt with ethanol-soaked gelatin sponge, while the control group (n=39) received only gelatin sponge shunt. Both of the two groups underwent transarterial chemoembolization if available. Changes in APS, tumor response (according to modified response evaluation criteria in solid tumor), changes in Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), and haemodynamics changes of the portal vein were analyzed. χ2 test and t test were used to compare the differences of qualitative and quantitative parameters between two groups. The APS grades were compared between the two groups before treatment and 2 months after treatment using rank sum test. Results Six patients were lost during the 2-month follow-up, and 72 patients were followed up, which include 38 patients in the experimental group and 34 patients in the control group. Compared to (14/34), the experimental group (25/38) has higher The APS improvement rates of the experimental group and the control group were 65.8％(25/38) and 41.2％(14/34), and there was significant difference (χ2=4.379, P<0.05). Of the 72 patients, 66 cases were conform to modified response evaluation criteria in solid tumor, which include 35 patients in the experimental group and 31 patients in the control group. Tumor response at 2 months of the experimental group and the control group were 57.1％(20/35) and 32.3％(10/31), and there was significant difference (χ2=4.106, P<0.05). The ECOG score was significantly decreased from 2 points to ≤1 point in 19 cases in the experimental group, while 12 cases in the control group (χ2=6.894, P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the diameter of the portal vein dropped significantly (t=2.082, P<0.05), while the blood flow velocity of portal vein increased (t=2.219, P<0.05) obviously in the experimental group 1 month after treatment. Conclusion Tansarterial embolization with ethanol-soaked gelatin sponge can effectively improve APS improvement rate, and quality of life of patients with unresectable HCC accompanied with APS.