Therapeutic embolisation of the hepatic artery: a review of 75 procedures.

In 75 procedures carried out in 57 patients, hepatic arterial embolisation was shown to be a safe and effective treatment for hepatic arterial bleeding and benign vascular tumours and malformations. The median survival of patients with malignant hepatic tumours in our series compares favourably with that recorded for other methods of treatment in patients with similar tumours. Embolisation ameliorated the symptoms produced by malignant hepatic tumours, particularly those occurring in patients with functioning endocrine tumours. The commonest side-effects of embolisation were pain, pyrexia, leucocytosis, intrahepatic gas formation, and nausea. Serious complications were rare and included hepatic abscess (4 patients), septicaemia (2 patients), renal failure (2 patients), and bowel infarction (1 patient). The 2 patients with septicaemia died within a week of embolisation, and these were the only deaths directly attributable to the procedure.