ACUTE HEPATIC-FAILURE FOLLOWING TRANSCATHETER ARTERIAL EMBOLIZATION FOR THE TREATMENT OF HEPATOCELLULAR-CARCINOMA

We conducted a retrospective analysis to evaluate the risk factors ass ociated with the occurrence of acute hepatic failure following transca theter arterial embolization (TAE) for hepatocellular carcinoma, From 1984 to 1993 we performed a total of 623 embolization procedures in 36 9 patients with both hepatocellular carcinoma and chronic liver diseas e, Within 2 weeks after TAE, 13 patients (2.1%) experienced hepatic fa ilure as characterized by a rapid increase in serum bilirubin levels a nd the development of hepatic encephalopathy of grade 2 or higher. The se results indicated that the following are risk factors for acute hep atic failure after TAE: poor hepatic functional reserve; high-dose inf usion of chemotherapeutic agents, and a history of multiple embolizati on procedures.