Korean J Hepatol.  2011 Jun;17(2):106-112. 10.3350/kjhep.2011.17.2.106.

Treatment and clinical outcome of needle-track seeding from hepatocellular carcinoma

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
  • 2Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
  • 3Department of Internal Medicine and Liver Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. yoonjun@snu.ac.kr
  • 4Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
Needle-track seeding is a rare but important complication of diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound (US)-guided procedures in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We examined the frequency of needle-track seeding after US-guided percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI), fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB), and percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) in order to determine the appropriate treatment for needle-track seeding and its clinical outcome.
METHODS
We analyzed the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes in eight patients who experienced needle-track seeding from HCC after an US-guided procedure (FNAB, PEI, or PTBD) between January 1990 and July 2004.
RESULTS
Seven (0.14%) of 5,092 patients who experienced needle-track seeding (2 after PEI, 4 after FNAB, and 1 after PTBD) during the study period and 1 other patient who experienced needle-track seeding recently were recruited for this study. Two of the eight patients underwent mass excision and the other six patients underwent en-bloc wide excision for the needle-track seeding. Tumors recurred in the needle-tracks in both patients who underwent mass excision but not in the six patients who underwent en-bloc wide excision. Mortality occurred in three patients who experienced the recurrence and progression of intrahepatic HCC.
CONCLUSIONS
The incidence of needle-track seeding after US-guided procedures in HCC was 0.14%. En-bloc wide excision seems to be the optimal treatment for minimizing the probability of tumor recurrence due to needle-track seeding.

Keyword

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; Ultrasonography, Interventional; Neoplasm seeding

MeSH Terms

Adult
Biopsy, Fine-Needle/*adverse effects
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/*secondary/therapy/ultrasonography
Female
Humans
Liver Neoplasms/*pathology/therapy/ultrasonography
Male
Middle Aged
*Neoplasm Seeding
Retrospective Studies
Skin Neoplasms/secondary
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
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