Acute ischemic cholecystitis after transarterial chemoembolization with drug-eluting beads

Abstract

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is a widely used treatment choice for hepatocellular cancer. DC Bead microspheres are a new embolic material for TACE that doxorubicin can be loaded to. The tumor response rate of this well-tolerated treatment was changed between 60% and 81.8%. We report a case of ischemic cholecystitis after TACE with drug-eluting beads (DEB) that required cholecystectomy. The possibility of cholecystitis is always remembered during TACE-DEB for tumors in segment IV and/or V. Although selective catheterization is related with a lower risk for ischemic cholecystitis, the anatomic and vascular variability in patients with malignancy may lead to some unexpected conditions.