Hepatic infarction following percutaneous ethanol injection therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma

We report on two patients who developed hepatic infarction after undergoing percutaneous ethanol injection therapy (PEIT) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), In both cases, liver function parameters deteriorated immediately a fter the ethanol injection, and enhanced computed tomography images showed a wedge-shaped avascular low-density area due to hepatic infarction, In one patient, PEIT was performed for a nodule treated with transcatheter arteri al infusion (TAI) using a suspension of styrene maleic acid neocarzinostati n (SMANCS) 4 weeks before, In the other patient, TAI with SMANCS had been c arried out 14 months previously for a different nodule in the same segment where the nodule treated with PEIT was located. When PEIT is used for patie nts with HCC who have previously undergone TAI, especially with SMANCS, PEI T may induce hepatic infarction, Eur J Gasiroenterol Hepatol 10:915-918 (C) 1998 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.