Abstract
ObjectiveTo investigate the associations of ectopic blood supply of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with its morphological features and therapeutic history.MethodsThree hundred and six patients with 373 HCC lesions were enrolled in this study, and underwent biphasic contrast-enhanced scans on a 64-section MDCT. The anatomy of ectopic blood supply, morphological characteristics of HCC including the size, location and pseudocapsule, and history of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) therapy were quantitively assessed and statistically analyzed.ResultsEctopic blood supply was found in 30.8% (115/373) lesions. The ectopic arteries were predominantly composed of inferior phrenic artery (86/115) followed by left and right gastric artery (25/115). Tumor size, location, status of pseudocapsule, and history of TACE therapy could impact the origination of ectopic arteries (all p<0.05).ConclusionThe ectopic feeding arteries of HCC predominantly composed of the perihepatic arteries are associated with the morphological features of the tumor and therapeutic history.
Highlights
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide and is responsible for more than 500,000 deaths every year globally [1]
It needs to be confirmed whether the morphological features of HCC and the therapeutic history can affect formation of the ectopic supply
The diagnosis were confirmed by pathological examination using fine needle aspiration biopsy in 234 patients, or typical CT features based on the American Association for Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) guidelines [22] and serum alpha-fetal protein (AFP) in the remaining 72 patients
Summary
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide and is responsible for more than 500,000 deaths every year globally [1]. To successfully perform TACE, the feeding arteries of HCC including hepatic artery (HA) and ectopic perihepatic arteries should be evaluated before treatment [4,5]. Previous findings showed that MDCTA could depict most of the tumor feeding vessels from the intercostal arteries in patients with HCC. MDCTA was suggested to be conducted for any tumors to locate the feeding vessel before chemoembolization [17,18]. It needs to be confirmed whether the morphological features of HCC and the therapeutic history can affect formation of the ectopic supply
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