Minimally invasive image-guided interventional management of hepatic artery pseudoaneurysms

Percutaneous direct puncture and embolization of vascularly inaccessible abdominal visceral pseudoaneurysms: A single-center experience and literature review

BACKGROUND

To evaluate the techniques, efficacy, and safety for treating vascularly inaccessible abdominal visceral pseudoaneurysms by direct puncture and embolization.

METHODS

A retrospective study of 5 consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous direct puncture embolization for intra-abdominal pseudoaneurysms in our institution between January 2009 and December 2016. Technical aspects, success, clinical outcome, and complications were discussed.

RESULTS

Four patients (80%) were men, and the mean age of all five patients was 57.2 years (range, 47-72 years). The mean diameter of the pseudoaneurysms was 2.5 cm (range, 1.9-3.4 cm). All the pseudoaneurysms were punctured under the imaging guidance of fluoroscopy, ultrasound, or computed tomography. Coils and glue were used in four of the patients, the remaining one with coil only. The mean injected glue volume was 1.5 (range, 0.8-2) mL. The overall technical and clinical success rate was 100% without major complications or mortality.

CONCLUSION

Our single-center experience and the literature review demonstrate that percutaneous direct puncture embolization is feasible and effective to serve as an alternative for treating abdominal vascular pseudoaneurysms when the traditional endovascular embolization fails. In this approach, fluoroscopy is the most needed guidance technique.

Direct Percutaneous Puncture and Embolization of Visceral Pseudoaneurysm: Safety and Clinical Efficacy

Purpose The aim of the study is to assess the safety and clinical effectiveness of direct percutaneous embolization of visceral artery pseudoaneurysms.

Materials and Methods Retrospective analysis of patients who had undergone direct percutaneous embolization of visceral artery pseudoaneurysms between January 2012 and May 2017 was performed. The study included 26 patients with a mean age of 36 years (range 10–71 years). The indications for direct percutaneous embolization included the inability to catheterize endovascularly (n = 24) or prior embolization (n = 2) of the feeding artery. Patient demographics, details of the procedure, complications, and outcomes were evaluated. Patients were followed for a mean of 15 months to assess for recurrence of the pseudoaneurysms on ultrasound.

Results Splenic artery (n = 13), gastroduodenal artery (n = 4), right hepatic artery (n = 3), pancreaticoduodenal arteries (n = 3), left gastric artery (n = 2), and left hepatic artery (n = 1) were the embolized arteries. Etiology for pseudoaneurysm were pancreatitis (n = 20), trauma (n = 2), postoperative (n = 2), and few were incidentally detected (n = 2). N-butyl cyanoacrylate (NBCA) with lipiodol was used in 23 (88.4%) patients, coil in one (3.8%), and both coil and NBCA in two patients (7.7%). Embolization of the pseudoaneurysm was successful in all cases. No procedure-related complication was observed. Follow-up showed no recurrence of the pseudoaneurysm. Self-limiting splenic infarct was seen in six patients. Self-limiting abdominal pain was seen in all the patients with embolization with NBCA. One patient developed liver infarct and subsequent liver abscess requiring percutaneous drainage.

Conclusion Direct percutaneous embolization is safe and effective in the treatment of visceral artery pseudoaneurysms and should be considered as an alternative in patients with a failed endovascular approach.

Percutaneous Embolization of an Inferior Mesenteric Artery Aneurysm in a Patient With Type IV Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) refers to a group of genetic disorders involving the connective tissues. Type IV EDS impairs type III collagen that is responsible for vessel integrity. Patients with type IV EDS are susceptible to vascular and visceral complications, including aortic aneurysms, pseudoaneurysms, dissections, and spontaneous rupture of internal organs. Treating aneurysms with open surgery versus endovascular techniques each carry a unique risk-to-benefit ratio that must be applied to each individual carefully. We present a patient with type IV EDS who presented with a rapidly growing inferior mesenteric artery aneurysm. The patient was treated with a percutaneous endovascular technique using coils and n-butyl-cyanoacrylate glue.

Percutaneous Direct Needle Puncture and Transcatheter N-butyl Cyanoacrylate Injection Techniques for the Embolization of Pseudoaneurysms and Aneurysms of Arteries Supplying the Hepato-pancreato-biliary System and Gastrointestinal Tract

Aims:

The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and clinical efficacy of percutaneous direct needle puncture and transcatheter N-butyl cyanoacrylate (NBCA) injection techniques for the embolization of pseudoaneurysms and aneurysms of arteries supplying the hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) system and gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

Subjects and Methods:

A hospital-based cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted, where the study group comprised 11 patients with pseudoaneurysms/aneurysms of arteries supplying the HPB system and GI tract presenting to a tertiary care center from January 2015 to June 2016. Four patients (36.4%) underwent percutaneous direct needle puncture of pseudoaneurysms with NBCA injection, 3 patients (27.3%) underwent transcatheter embolization with NBCA as sole embolic agent, and in 4 patients (36.4%), transcatheter NBCA injection was done along with coil embolization.

Results:

This retrospective study comprised 11 patients (8 males and 3 females) with mean age of 35.8 years ± 1.6 (standard deviation [SD]). The mean volume of NBCA: ethiodized oil (lipiodol) mixture injected by percutaneous direct needle puncture was 0.62 ml ± 0.25 (SD) (range = 0.5–1 ml), and by transcatheter injection, it was 0.62 ml ± 0.37 (SD) (range = 0.3–1.4 ml). Embolization with NBCA was technically and clinically successful in all patients (100%). No recurrence of bleeding or recurrence of pseudoaneurysm/aneurysm was noted in our study.

Conclusions:

Percutaneous direct needle puncture of visceral artery pseudoaneurysms and NBCA glue injection and transcatheter NBCA injection for embolization of visceral artery pseudoaneurysms and aneurysms are cost-effective techniques that can be used when coil embolization is not feasible or has failed.