SCLEROSING CHOLANGITIS AFTER OILY HEPATIC ARTERIAL CHEMOEMBOLIZATION

Two cases of sclerosing cholangitis after oily arterial chemoembolizat ion are reported. In one patient angiocholitis with liver abcesses, in the other patient gradual cholestasis were the main clinical features . In both cases, endoscopic retrograde cholangiogram showed a strictur e of the common hepatic bile duct and, in one case, irregularitis of i ntrahepatic biliary tree. Histologic examination of the liver in the t wo patients pointed out the involvement of small bile ducts and arteri olar endarteritis obliterans. Ischaemia is likely to be the main mecha nism of these two cases of sclerosing cholangitis as well as in those described after FUDR intra-arterial chemotherapy. The prevalence of sc lerosing cholangitis after arterial oily chemoembolisation is probably underestimated because of a non specific clinical presentation and ne ed to be precised by further study.