Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is a useful palliative therapeutic modality for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Postembolization syndromes, such as fever, abdominal pain, and elevated liver enzyme levels are commonly known complications of TACE. One post-TACE pulmonary complication, lipiodol pneumonitis, is rarely reported. Lipiodol pneumonitis after TACE appears to be associated with chemical injury due to accidental perfusion of lipiodol to the lung vasculature, promoted by arteriovenous shunts within the hypervascular HCC. Here, we report a 42-year-old man with unresectable HCC and hepatic vein thrombosis. The patient was initially treated with TACE. The following day after TACE, acute respiratory symptoms such as dyspnea and cough developed with decreased oxygen saturation. Chest X-ray and computed tomography showed multiple patches and diffuse ground-glass opacities in both lung fields, suggesting of lipiodol pneumonitis. The patient’s condition and radiologic abnormalities subsequently improved after 2 weeks of conservative treatment alone.
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Lipiodol-induced Pneumonitis Following Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Heechul Nam The Korean Journal of Gastroenterology.2022; 80(5): 233. CrossRef
A 53-year-old female patient visited our hospital complaining of intermittent right upper quadrant pain for 6 months. Computed tomography (CT) scan revealed an irregular shaped tumor at segment 4 of the liver with biliary tumor thrombi extending into the common bile duct. Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage was done for decompression of bile duct dilatation. The patient underwent 6 sessions of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). Partial response was obtained shortly after TACE. However, regrowth of intraductal tumor resulted in an obstructive jaundice. After a slight decompression of the obstructive jaundice, the patient underwent TACE. Jaundice temporarily worsened following the TACE, but improved, and follow-up CT demonstrated some shrinkage of the intraductal mass. This case indicates that obstructive-type jaundice may not be a contraindication for TACE, and aggressive TACE may improve prognoses of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and biliary tumor thrombi.