Portal vein stenting combined with transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization in treatment of portal vein tumor thrombus in patients with primary hepatic carcinoma

Objective:To discuss the clinical outcomes of portal vein stenting combined with transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization(TACE) in treating portal vein tumor thrombus in the patients with primary hepatic carcinoma(PHC).Methods: Eleven PHC patients with tumor thrombus in the main branch or trunk of the portal vein were treated with stenting and TACE simultaneously(or TACE were performed 1 week later).The successful rate of the procedure,the patency of the obstruction,the complications,the mortality and the survival periods were all recorded.Results: Portal vein puncture was successfully performed in all 11 cases and successful stenting was achieved in 10 cases.Hepatic encephalopathy combined with hepatic failure was noticed in 1 patient.The median patency period after stenting was 5.7(118) months.The survival rates of patients at 3,6 and 12 months after treatment were 5/ 11,4/ 11 and 2/ 11,respectively.Conclusion: Metallic stent implantation combined with TACE has satisfactory outcome in treating tumor thrombus in the main branch and trunk of the portal vein in PHC patients without distant metastases.