Fatal bile duct necrosis: a rare complication of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization in a patient with endocrine hepatic metastasis

Anne-Laure Pelletier; Pascal Hammel; Magali Zappa; Pierre Bedossa; Vinciane Rebours; Olivia Hentic; Frédérique Maire; Philippe Levy; Philippe Ruszniewski

doi:10.1159/000158542

Fatal bile duct necrosis: a rare complication of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization in a patient with endocrine hepatic metastasis

Case Rep Gastroenterol. 2008 Nov 5;2(3):356-62. doi: 10.1159/000158542.

Authors

Anne-Laure Pelletier¹, Pascal Hammel, Magali Zappa, Pierre Bedossa, Vinciane Rebours, Olivia Hentic, Frédérique Maire, Philippe Levy, Philippe Ruszniewski

Affiliation

¹ Pôle des Maladies de l'Appareil Digestif, Service de Gastroentérologie-Pancréatologie, Clichy, France.

Abstract

We report the first case of fatal bile duct necrosis following transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in a 58-year-old woman. The patient underwent two TACEs to treat hepatic metastases from an ileal endocrine tumor. Persistent cholestasis occurred after the second procedure, leading to the diagnosis of bile duct necrosis confirmed by liver biopsy. The patient died of liver failure with encephalopathy six months after the second TACE. Even though this complication is very rare, physicians should consider this diagnosis in patients who develop chronic, marked cholestasis following a TACE procedure.

Keywords: Bile duct necrosis; Endocrine tumor; Hepatic metastasis; Liver failure; TACE.

Publication types

Case Reports