Radiofrequency ablation for hemobilia secondary to hepatocellular carcinoma

Hemobilia is a rare manifestation of hepatic malignancies. The current treatment of choice for hemobilia is transcatheter hepatic arterial embolization. However, there have been only two published reports that describe the use of hepatic arterial embolization for hemobilia caused by hepatic neoplasms. In addition, this procedure is occasionally unsuccessful in the treatment of hemobilia. A case in which hemobilia caused by hepatocellular carcinoma was successfully treated with percutaneous radiofrequency tumor ablation after several failed hepatic arterial embolizations is described in this report.     

Upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage secondary to erosion of a biliary Wallstent in a woman with pancreatic cancer

A 77-year-old patient with unresectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma sustained a life-threatening, upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage 1 month after placement of a biliary Wallstent. Radiographic and endoscopic studies revealed a choledocho-arterio-enteric fistula caused by erosion of the stent through the posterior duodenal wall. The patient was treated successfully with arterial embolization. This represents an unusual case of arterial bleeding with choledocho-arterio-enteric fistulization into the duodenum subsequent to biliary stent erosion.     

Use of the Arrow percutaneous thrombectomy device and transjugular liver biopsy cannula for mechanical thrombectomy of the inferior vena cava in a patient with Budd-Chiari syndrome

A 33-year-old woman with Budd-Chiari syndrome and hypercoagulability was sequentially treated with the placement of hepatic vein stents and transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (TIPS), all of which repeatedly thrombosed. Four months after TIPS revision with an endoprosthesis, a large inferior vena cava (IVC) thrombus developed caudal to an IVC stenosis. A percutaneous thrombectomy device was introduced coaxially through a transjugular liver biopsy cannula to extend its effective diameter range of attack and was steered within the IVC to successfully clear the thrombus. The condition recurred 9 months later, and the technique was repeated successfully. At subsequent 12-month follow-up, the IVC remains patient and symptoms resolved. This combination of cannula and percutaneous thrombectomy device proved essential in facilitating successful mechanical thrombectomy of the IVC.