[Hepatocarcinoma invasion of the portal vein: detection using lipiodol computed tomography. Apropos of 2 cases].

Portal vein involvement is a major complication of hepatocellular carcinoma and has an important impact on management and prognosis. Iodized-oil computed tomography is a well-established imaging technique for the pretherapeutic assessment of hepatocellular carcinoma because it allows detection of the primary tumor site and any daughter nodules. We report two cases of hepatocellular carcinoma extending to the portal vein which was documented by iodized-oil computed tomography. In both cases, tumor thrombus demonstrated marked retention of the iodized-oil on computed tomography. Our two cases demonstrate that iodized-oil computed tomography can depict portal vein extension 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.