Gelfoam embolization: a simplified technique.
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Coronary veins in seven of eight patients with bleeding esophageal varices were successfully catheterized and embolized with Gelfoam followed by multiple steel coils. Bleeding immediately ceased in all seven, but recurred within 1 month in six. One had not rebled on 3 month follow-up. Therefore, steel coils do not prevent recurrent bleeding any more effectively than other embolic materials used for this purpose.
A major potential hazard of therapeutic occlusion of arteries by selectively injected Gelfoam pledgets is inadvertent reflux of nonopaque emboli into the aorta with resultant occlusion of other vessels. A simple method of injecting Gelfoam emboli through the standard nonoccluding arterial catheters customarily used for diagnostic arteriography was experimentally tested. The method incorporated certain safety features such as introduction of one embolus at a time using tuberculin syringes, low pressure injection technique, and frequent test injections of contrast to ascertain vessel patency. The results indicate that Gelfoam emboli can be safely and reliably employed using this technique, provided the catheter tip is properly positioned and emboli are only introduced as long as contrast test injections demonstrate rapid antegrade flow and continued patency of the artery. Once stasis or occlusion of most major branches are detected, blood flow in the catheterized artery has effectively ceased and further embolization is risky.
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The authors have reviewed the experimental literature about the different agents used for endovascular embolization: clots, tissues, duramater, Gelfoam, oxydized cellulose, Ivalon, beads, microspheres, cyanoacrylates, silicone, barium. Each occlusive agent was studied in regard to its physical properties, injection methods, characteristics of obstruction, vascular reaction, and toxicity. The level and quality of obstruction obtained depend on many factors which are discussed.
The renal arteries in three groups of four dogs were occluded to induce renal infarcts using Gelfoam, Gelfoam and steel coil, and barium suspension. Each agent was evaluated for its effect on renal renin output, arteriographic appearance, and the extent of renal infarct produced. Gelfoam embolization produced incomplete infarcts with hypertrophy of remaining viable tissue. Renal infarcts were more extensive with the combination of Gelfoam and coil than with Gelfoam alone. Barium embolization produced the most diffuse and extensive renal infarct. Renal vein plasma renin levels from the embolized kidney were significantly elevated in the Gelfoam-plus-coil dogs, but arterial pressures were significantly higher in only two of four of these dogs 10 weeks after embolization.
Transcatheter embolization of the gastroduodenal artery with Gelfoam was performed in 12 patients undergoing percutaneous hepatic artery catheterization for infusion chemotherapy of metastatic liver disease. The purpose of the embolization was to prevent chemotherapeutic drugs from reaching the stomach and duodenum and thereby inducing gastrointestinal toxicity in patients in whom the catheter tip could not be satisfactorily positioned beyond the gastroduodenal origin. Embolization proved safe and effective in eight cases. Three other patients experienced clinical problems that may or may not have been related to embolization. The final patient had a significant complication (necrosis of the pancreatic head and gastric mucosa) that was felt to be directly related to the embolization. Transcatheter gastroduodenal occlusion may help reduce gastrointestinal toxicity of intraarterial infusion chemotherapy. However, it may on occasion be associated with significant complications, particularly in patients who are debilitated due to metastatic disease.
Immunosuppressive therapy is necessary in the treatment and prevention of rejection in renal transplant recipients. Unfortunately, these patients may become intolerant to this therapy when it is complicated by hypersplenism with leukopenia and/or thrombocytopenia. The therapy must then be either decreased or stopped, thus preventing adequate treatment or prevention or rejection. Splenectomy has been used to treat the hypersplenism to break this cycle. It requires operative intervention with general anesthesia and prolonged hospitalization, and has been associated with fulminant bacterial septicemia. For these reasons, partial splenic embolization was offered to our patients as an alternative to splenectomy in the treatment of their immunosuppressive therapy intolerance due to hypersplenism. Six patients with acute rejection episodes and one patient on dialysis awaiting transplantation underwent partial splenic embolization. It corrected the hypersplenism in each case without significant complications allowing control of the rejection episode with adequate immunosuppressive therapy in six patients. Strict aseptic technique, pain control, and antibiotic prophylaxis are advised to prevent the complications of splenic abscess, rupture, or septicemia when this technique is used.
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Eleven segmental and eight total renal artery occlusions were evaluated by sonography in transplanted kidneys of 19 adult mongrel dogs. The segmental occlusions were serially scanned daily or every other day for up to 35 days. The total occlusions were scanned daily for up to 10 days. Each occlusion was confirmed angiographically, and kidneys were examined pathologically. Acute segmental renal artery occlusion produces a sequence of sonographic changes, beginning with a focal hypoechoic mass at 24 hr, which stays unchanged for 5-7 days. At 7 days, internal echoes appear, and the infarct slowly consolidates to an echogenic, slightly depressed focus at 17 days. Total renal artery occlusion produced no appreciable change in cortical echogenicity and only slight increase in size. Acute segmental renal infarction can be detected early in its course and demonstrates a sequence of changes that may aid in dating the infarct. Total renal infarction may appear normal sonographically, and further studies are needed to confirm that diagnosis.
The normal intraoperative sonographic features of the spinal canal, spinal cord, conus medullaris, and cauda equina are described and illustrated. Important observations concerning the normal spinal cord include its highly reflective dorsal and ventral surfaces, its uniform hypoechogenicity, and the presence of a central echo. Other easily identified structures within the spinal canal include the dura-arachnoid layer, subarachnoid space, denticulate ligament, dorsal arachnoid septations, and the roots of the cauda equina. In addition the sonographic appearance of commonly encountered iatrogenically introduced material including Gelfoam, Pantopaque, cottonoid pledgets, suture material, Harrington rods, and freeze-dried dura is also demonstrated. These normal images can serve as a baseline for the interpretation of various pathologic conditions of the spinal canal and its contents as seen with intraoperative spinal sonography.
Adrenal arterial embolization was performed in nine patients, four with inoperable adrenal cortical carcinoma and five with metastatic adrenal tumors. Embolic agents used were polyvinyl alcohol foam (Ivalon) in seven patients, stainless steel coils in four, ethanol in three, and surgical gelatin (Gelfoam) in two. In eight patients, embolization was performed for palliation, either to decrease tumor bulk (all patients), suppress tumor hormonal function (three patients), or relieve pain (four patients). One patient had an embolization to facilitate subsequent adrenalectomy. In four patients in whom it was possible to assess the effect of embolization on tumor bulk by follow-up CT, a striking reduction in size has occurred in one, the lesions remained stable in size for 12 months in two, and the tumor continued to increase in size in the fourth. A striking reduction in the production of the cortisol for 12 months was seen in two of three patients with Cushing syndrome. This reduction was considered due at least in part to embolization. Adrenal embolization resulted in effective palliation of pain in three of four patients and may have contributed to palliation in the fourth. Apart from a hypertensive episode in one patient, the cause of which was unclear, no serious side effects occurred. Adrenal arterial embolization may play an effective role without serious side effects in palliation of pain and reduction of hormone production in inoperable adrenal lesions.
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Renal artery branch injury resulting from stab wounds of iatrogenic origin or street violence is an important cause of renal hemorrhage. Over a period of 10 years we accurately diagnosed the injury and successfully managed the associated hemorrhage in 15 patients by using angiography and percutaneous embolization techniques. Nine branch injuries in eight patients were due to street knifings and seven injuries were complications of invasive medical procedures (four from renal biopsy, two from nephrostolithotomy, and one from nephrostomy). All patients had gross hematuria at the time of angiographic evaluation. False aneurysms were present in six patients (one with associated frank extravasation), false aneurysm/arteriovenous fistula in three, false aneurysm/arteriocaliceal fistula in one, and isolated arteriovenous fistula in two. Frank extravasation without associated false aneurysm/arteriovenous fistula was present in two. One patient had two injuries, an upper-pole false aneurysm and a lower-pole false aneurysm/arteriovenous fistula. In the eight patients injured in street knifings, hematuria recurred after surgical exploration and treatment. None of the 16 injuries involved the main renal artery. Gelfoam was used for embolization of nine lesions and steel coils for four. Three others were treated with Gelfoam plus coils. Hemostasis was achieved in all and none required subsequent surgery. Renal tissue loss was small to moderate (less than 30%) in 12 patients and large (30-50%) in three patients. Transient postembolization hypertension occurred in one of the latter. We consider selective angiography/embolization to be an effective and safe means for diagnosing and treating wounds of the renal artery branches.
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The usefulness of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) of the hepatic artery was retrospectively evaluated in 66 patients who underwent the procedure for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma that recurred after partial hepatectomy. The materials infused were Gelfoam sponge or Gelfoam sponge plus Lipiodol and an anticancer agent. A control group of 15 patients with recurrent tumor received oral anticancer agents alone. The cumulative survival rate for the TACE group was 88% for the first year, 57% for 2 years, 42% for 3 years, and 27% for 5 years, whereas that of the control group was 80% for the first year, 27% for 2 years, and 18% for 3 years. Thus, the prognosis of the TACE group was significantly better (p less than or equal to .01, log-rank test) than that of the control group. The survival rate was inversely correlated with the ratio of the volume of the recurrent tumor to the volume of the whole residual liver. These results suggest that TACE is more effective than oral chemotherapy for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma that recurs after partial hepatectomy.