Complications after Thermal Ablation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Liver Metastases: Imaging Findings.
Federica De MuzioCarmen CutoloFederica Dell'AversanaFrancesca GrassiLudovica RavoMarilina FerranteGinevra DantiFederica FlammiaIgino SimonettiPierpaolo PalumboFederico BrunoLuca PierpaoliRoberta FuscoAndrea GiovagnoniVittorio MieleAntonio BarileVincenza GranataPublished in: Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) (2022)
Tumour ablation is a strategy of treatment of hepatic tumours in patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (<3 cm) or in patients unfit for surgical resection. Moreover, tumor ablation can be used as an adjuvant therapy or may be used in association with resection in case of patients with poor functional liver disease. These types of treatment usually could be performed percutaneously under image guidance. The most clinically verified and used ablation modalities are Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) and microwave ablation (MWA). However, despite both of them are considered minimally invasive techniques, they could be related to post-procedural complications. The International Working Group on Image-Guided Tumor and the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) identified major and minor post-ablative complications. Major complications, as vascular complications, occur in 2.2% to 3.1% of cases and include all the high risk pathological conditions which could increase the level of care or result in hospital admission or substantially prolonged hospital stay (SIR classifications C-E). Minor complications, as biliary complications, occur in 5% to 8.9% and include self-limiting conditions that are considered to be of low risk for the patient's outcome. The purpose of this review is to summarise the main pathological ultrasound (US) and Computed Tomography (CT) findings, that may arise after ablative treatment. To simplify the analysis, the pathological pictures are divided according to the site of damage into vascular, biliary and extrahepatic complications.
Keyphrases
- radiofrequency ablation
- computed tomography
- risk factors
- healthcare
- minimally invasive
- magnetic resonance imaging
- liver metastases
- end stage renal disease
- chronic kidney disease
- emergency department
- artificial intelligence
- contrast enhanced
- ejection fraction
- deep learning
- photodynamic therapy
- atrial fibrillation
- mass spectrometry
- image quality
- robot assisted
- quality improvement
- electronic health record
- pain management