Application of transcatheter arterial embolization in nasopharyngeal angiofibroma before operation

Objective: To assess the clinical value of preoperative embolization for nasopharyngeal angiofibroma.Materials and Methods: Fifty-six patients with nasopharyngeal angiofibroma confirmed by surgery and pathology were analyzed retrospectively.Among them,39 patients(surgical operation for 51 times) had superselective external and internal carotid angiographic diagnosis and occluding the terminal branches of the feeding arteries of the tumor from the external carotid artery with particles of liquidized gelfoam,these patients underwent surgery in 1 to 3 days after embolization were set as the embolization group.The other 17 patients(surgical operation for 28 times) were operated directly as non-embolization group.Results: During angiography,a large amount of vascularity and tumor staining were found in the area of tumor in the embolism group.The arteries of supplying blood were from the maxillary branch and/or the pharyngeal ascending br.rising from external carotid artery,which were embolized without serious complications.The average bleeding volume during the operatiom was(1 636.22±1 529.79) mL(range 50～6 000 mL) in the embolization group,while it was(2 816.67±1 154.31) mL(range 500~3 900 mL) in the non-embolization group,with a very significant difference(P0.05) between the two groups.Conclusion: The preoperative embolization of nasopharyngeal angiofibroma can reduce bleeding during operation,thus can improve the safety of the operation.It should be one of the crucial preoperation measures.