title: Needle track seeding following percutaneous procedures for hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Neoplastic seeding may arise after diagnostic or therapeutic percutaneous procedures for hepatocellular carcinoma. The true incidence of seeding with hepatocellular carcinoma is difficult to assess precisely, but a significant risk of seeding exists and is greater when performing diagnostic biopsy as compared to therapeutic percutaneous procedures [radiofrequency ablation, radiofrequency ablation (RFA); percutaneous ethanol injection, Percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI)]. Whenever liver transplantation is feasible, diagnostic needle biopsies should be avoided, but RFA and PEI are often needed as "bridge" treatments. The role of adjuvant treatments in reducing the incidence of seeding following RFA or PEI requires further evaluation.
authors.affiliation: Giuseppe Cabibbo, Antonio Craxì, Cattedra di Gastroenterologia, Dipartimento Biomedico di Medicina Interna e Specialstica, University of Palermo, Palermo 90127, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cabibbo
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Craxì