Hepatic arterial embolization for malignant hypercalcemia in hepatocellular carcinoma.

A patient who presented with hypercalcemia was found to have an hepatocellular carcinoma. Medical treatment failed to normalize blood calcium levels. Liver resection was not feasible due to major extrahepatic involvement. Selective arterial embolization of the tumor was performed, resulting in correction of the hypercalcemia. This observation suggests that some life-threatening complications of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma can be treated by arterial embolization of the tumor.