Search

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary tumour of the liver, responsible for significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. In the Western world, it primarily affects patients with cirrhosis, secondary to hepatitis C virus and alcoholism. In the rest of the world, HCC is closely associated with hepatitis B virus infections. Radiologists play a key role in accurately staging HCC, which has important implications for treatment planning. This pictorial review aims to describe the routes of HCC spread and the most frequent sites of metastases, to recognize extrahepatic HCC findings on computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, and to understand the implications of HCC staging on treatment planning., (Copyright © 2014 Canadian Association of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: SKyphoplasty is a new method of percutaneous spinal augmentation. Despite its limited availability in the United States, SKyphoplasty has experienced considerable growth in recent years. In this article, we aim to provide a stepwise documentation of the technique, with brief reference to the 2 established methods, vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty., Conclusion: Experience with SKyphoplasty is relatively limited, and little information has appeared in the literature to support its theoretical benefits. After review of previously published material, an audit of our institutional experience, and discussion with other practioners who perform this procedure, it would appear that pain relief by using this device is at best similar to that of conventional vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty. There was no evidence of height restoration in our patient population, an advantage that has been brought into question.