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Published on: December 22, 2023
Disastrous Portal Vein Embolization Turned into a Successful Intervention
Tomas Dobrocky1, Joachim Kettenbach2, Ruben Lopez-Benitez3
1Department of Interventional, Pediatric and Diagnostic Radiology, Inselspital, University Hospital, University of Bern, Freiburgstrasse 10, 3010, Bern, Switzerland. tomas.dobrocky@insel.ch.
Abstract:
Portal vein embolization (PVE) may be performed before hemihepatectomy to increase the volume of future liver remnant (FLR) and to reduce the risk of postoperative liver insufficiency. We report the case of a 71-year-old patient with hilar cholangiocarcinoma undergoing PVE with access from the right portal vein using a mixture of n-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate and ethiodized oil. During the procedure, nontarget embolization of the left portal vein occurred. An aspiration maneuver of the polymerized plug failed; however, the embolus obstructing portal venous flow in the FLR was successfully relocated into the right portal vein while carefully bypassing the plug with a balloon catheter, inflating the balloon, and pulling the plug into the main right portal vein.
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