Interobserver Agreement of Determination of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Feeding Vessels : Multi-Detector CT Angiography With 3D Reconstruction Versus Digital Subtraction Angiography

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents the sixth most common cancer worldwide. Trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is a palliative treatment for patients with HCC who are not candidates for transplantation, surgical resection, or loco-regional ablation. This minimally invasive procedure allows delivery of a high concentration of particles and/or chemotherapeutic agents into the liver, causing ischemic cell death and permitting local delivery of high concentrations of chemotherapeutic drug. Selective administration of chemo-embolic material to the tumor is desired, where possible, to increase the effectiveness of treatment to the tumor and minimize injury to surrounding liver tissue.

Tumor detection and assessment of the tumor-feeding vessel(s) are important for an effective treatment, while limiting non-target embolization. Usually, selection of the tumor-feeding vessels during TACE has been guided by 2D digital subtraction angiography (DSA). However; this method has a disadvantage of occasional misinterpretation of tumor-feeding vessels due to superimposition of vessels. To prevent such misinterpretation, multiple selective injections and oblique projections are performed during TACE with consequent increase in procedure time, volume of injected contrast material, and radiation doses.

A relatively new approach using three-dimensional (3D) cone-beam CT angiography during TACE is reported to be extremely helpful, especially in cases of complex hepatic arterial anatomy. However, the time required for processing and evaluating this 3D angiography images may discourage its routine use by intervention radiologists because it requires either a sterile remote control for in-room review or the operator exit from the angiographic room to access a workstation. A new automatic specifically designed softwares has been developed for detection of feeding vessels after Cone beam CT, but these softwares are not widely available.

Multiphasic contrast enhanced CT is one of the recommended imaging tools for diagnosis of HCC and is routinely done before TACE. There are few reports on the application of Multi-Detector CT angiography for detection of HCC feeding vessels before TACE.

This study aims to investigate the feasibility and accuracy of Multi-Detector CT angiography for assessment of tumor-feeding vessel in patients planned for TACE compared to DSA angiography acquired during TACE.