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DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1280671
Hepatic Radioembolization Complicated by Radiation Cholecystitis
Publication History
Publication Date:
16 June 2011 (online)
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ABSTRACT
Biliary complications following yttrium-90 (90Y) radioembolization are rare, and radiation-induced cholecystitis requiring intervention represents an even smaller proportion of these complications, reportedly occurring in fewer than 1% of patients treated with 90Y [1]. However, its implications are serious, as the treatment of radiation cholecystitis may require cholecystectomy in patients otherwise considered poor surgical candidates. While biliary complications such as intrahepatic biliary strictures or bilomas may be unavoidable in the course of treating hepatic malignancies due to local field effects of radiation, radiation cholecystitis results from non-target embolization of radioactive microspheres. Meticulous attention to anatomic detail and catheter position may be adequate in preventing this avoidable complication. Herein we discuss the clinical, radiographic, and pathologic findings, as well as the outcome, of a patient who experienced radiation cholecystitis following 90Y radioembolization.
KEYWORDS
Radioembolization - Y90 - radiation cholecystitis
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Robert LewandowskiM.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
676 N St Clair St, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60611
Email: r-lewandowski@northwestern.edu