[Assessment of the therapeutic effectiveness of alcohol administration in hepatocarcinoma: comparison of spiral computerized tomography and Doppler color ultrasonography].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the comparative adequacy of spiral CT and color-Doppler US versus biopsy in assessing the efficacy of percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).


METHODS
Fifteen patients with 30 known HCCs, 2-5 cm in diameter, underwent PEI. Arterial phase spiral CT and color-Doppler US were performed before treatment in all patients. Treatment efficacy was established on the basis of color-Doppler, spiral CT and percutaneous biopsy findings; biopsy was the gold standard.


RESULTS
After PEI, 22 of 30 lesions which were negative for malignant cells at biopsy were completely necrotic at spiral CT and avascular at color-Doppler US. In the extant 8 lesions, which exhibited residual tumor tissue at biopsy, spiral CT detected early enhancement of the viable tumor portion in all cases. Color-Doppler US showed residual tumor vascularization in 4 of 8 lesions.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results demonstrate that spiral CT, performed in the arterial phase, can improve the depiction of residual viable tumor tissue in HCCs treated with PEI, overcoming color-Doppler limitations.
Basilico
R
R
Istituto di Scienze Radiologiche e Formazione dell'Immagine, Università G. D'Annunzio, Chieti.
Filippone
A
A
Muzi
M
M
Sergiacomo
L
L
Del Roio
L
L
Bonomo
L
L
D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color
D000431:Ethanol
Valutazione dell' efficacia terapeutica dell' alcolizzazione nell' epatocarcinoma: confronto tra Tomografia Computerizzata spirale ed eco color Doppler.