title: Assessment and monitoring of liver function by ¹³C-aminopyrine breath test after selective transarterial chemoembolisation of hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Liver function and tumor staging are essential parameters for selection of treatment modalities in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is associated with a risk of deterioration of liver function. In clinical routine hepatic function in patients with liver cirrhosis is assessed by the Child-Pugh-classification. Dynamic breath tests allow the assessment of the hepatic functional mass and have the potential to give more accurate information on hepatic function periinterventionally.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective clinical study was performed in 13 patients receiving a total of 18 TACE sessions. (13)C-aminopyrine breath test was performed the day before TACE, 2 days and 30 days after TACE and correlated with standard laboratory work-up of the patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fourteen TACE sessions were performed in Child A liver cirrhosis, 4 in Child B cirrhosis. All patients presented with impaired aminopyrine metabolism at baseline. No significant changes in the (13)C aminopyrine breath test following TACE were observed. Two patients treated in Child A cirrhosis decompensated to Child B, one of them recovered. No further decompensation was observed in patients treated in Child B cirrhosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Liver function assessment with (13)C-aminopyrine breath test and Child-Pugh-classification following TACE was discordant in a large proportion of patients. Whether a quantification of mitochondrial liver function in patients planned to undergo locoregional treatment of HCC in liver cirrhosis is helpful in the prediction of postprocedural liver decompensation needs to be addressed in larger prospective clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Gastroenterologie, Hepatologie & Infektiologie, Universitätsklinikum Magdeburg A. ö. R.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schütte
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Radiologie und Nuklearmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Magdeburg A. ö. R.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Seidensticker
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Gastroenterologie, Hepatologie & Infektiologie, Universitätsklinikum Magdeburg A. ö. R.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Milbradt
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Gastroenterologie, Hepatologie & Infektiologie, Universitätsklinikum Magdeburg A. ö. R.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bornschein
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Gastroenterologie, Hepatologie & Infektiologie, Universitätsklinikum Magdeburg A. ö. R.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kandulski
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Radiologie und Nuklearmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Magdeburg A. ö. R.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pech
authors.affiliation: Institut für Biometrie und Medizinische Informatik, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kropf
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Radiologie und Nuklearmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Magdeburg A. ö. R.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ricke
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Gastroenterologie, Hepatologie & Infektiologie, Universitätsklinikum Magdeburg A. ö. R.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Malfertheiner
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000632:Aminopyrine / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000379:methods; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D016461:Chemoembolization, Therapeutic / Q000379:methods*; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System / Q000378:metabolism; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008111:Liver Function Tests / Q000379:methods*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D000632:Aminopyrine; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System