Hepatocellular carcinoma extending to the portal vein: detection with iodized-oil computed tomography in two cases

Portal vein involvement is a major complication of hepatocellular carcinoma and has an important impact on management and prognosis. iodized-oil compu ted tomography is a well-established imaging technique for the pretherapeut ic assessment of hepatocellular carcinoma because it allows detection of th e primary tumor site and any daughter nodules. We report two cases of hepat ocellular carcinoma extending to the portal vein which was documented by io dized-oil computed tomography. In both cases, tumor thrombus demonstrated m arked retention of the iodized-oil on computed tomography. Our two cases de monstrate that iodized-oil computed tomography can depict porta[ Vein exten sion of hepatocellular carcinoma. In addition, these two cases suggest that iodized-oil retention within the portal Vein is a clue to the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.