CT OF ABDOMINAL-WALL IMPLANTATION METASTASES AFTER ABDOMINAL PERCUTANEOUS PROCEDURES

Purpose: Our goal was to report the CT manifestations of abdominal wal l implantation metastases occurring after abdominal percutaneous proce dure. Method: CT scans and clinical data of six patients with abdomina l wall implantation metastases at the puncture site following abdomina l percutaneous procedure were reviewed. The abdominal percutaneous pro cedures included drainage of intraperitoneal abscess in patients with colon or gastric cancer (n = 2), transhepatic biliary drainage in a pa tient with hilar cholangiocarcinoma (n = I), biopsy of intrahepatic he patocellular carcinoma (n = I), biopsy of a metastatic left adrenal gl and (n = 1), and laparoscopic cholecystectomy in a patient with unsusp ected gallbladder cancer (n = 1). Results: CT enabled the diagnosis of abdominal wall implantation metastasis in all six patients and showed coexisting intraabdominal tumor sites in five patients. All abdominal wall implantation metastases were homogeneous before intravenous admi nistration of iodinated contrast material and became moderately hetero geneous on contrast-enhanced CT scan with marked enhancement relative to adjacent tissues. Conclusion: Abdominal wall implantation metastase s are moderately heterogeneous on contrast-enhanced CT scan with marke d enhancement relative to adjacent tissues. In most cases of abdominal wall implantation metastasis following abdominal percutaneous procedu re, CT shows additional intraabdominal tumor sites. This complication may occur following a variety of abdominal percutaneous procedures (ei ther radiological or surgical).