Blood supply characteristics of pedunculated hepatocellular carcinoma prior to and following transcatheter arterial chemoembolization treatment: An angiographic demonstration.

Pedunculated hepatocellular carcinoma (P‑HCC) is a rare type of HCC, defined as a carcinoma protruding from the liver with or without a pedicle with a low degree of liver invasion. The present study aimed to evaluate the characteristics of blood supply of P‑HCC prior to and following transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) treatment. Angiographic findings prior to and following TACE treatment in 39 patients with P‑HCC were analyzed retrospectively. Angiography performed at the first TACE session revealed 70 tumor‑feeding arteries collectively in all patients, including 31/70 (44.0%) extrahepatic parasitic arteries in 23/39 patients (59.0%). The intrahepatic arteries served as the main blood supply to P‑HCC in all patients. Extrahepatic collateral blood supplies to P‑HCCs were significantly associated with larger tumor diameter (χ2=164.000, P<0.001), but not tumor location (χ2=7.358, P=0.061). Following repeated TACE treatment, all angiographies revealed a total of 131 tumor feeding arteries collectively in all patients, including intrahepatic arteries (54/131) and extrahepatic collateral arteries (78/131) in 31 patients (79.5%). Compared with angiographies performed at the initial TACE treatment, these results also demonstrated an increase in the number of extrahepatic collateral arteries, which produced 47 new blood vessels (χ2=4.278, P=0.039). P‑HCC tumor lesions readily acquired a parasitic blood supply from adjacent vessels following repeated TACE. Intrahepatic arteries functioned as the main blood supply for P‑HCC, whereas extrahepatic collateral arteries were complementary to P‑HCC, regardless of whether the patient was pre‑ or post‑TACE. Extrahepatic collateral supplies to P‑HCCs that originated from adjacent vessels were rich, were closely associated with tumor size, and were prone to be newly established following repeated TACE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]