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Impact of a Unified CT Angiography System on Outcome of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

¹ All authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Ogaki Municipal Hospital, 4-86 Minaminokawa, Ogaki, Gifu 503-8502, Japan.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the impact of a unified CT angiography (CTA) system for the management of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

SUBJECTS AND METHODS. A total of 1,312 patients with HCC who had been diagnosed and treated between 1990 and 2003 were studied. The clinical characteristics and survival rate were compared between patients who underwent pretreatment evaluation of tumor progression by a unified CTA system and those who underwent evaluation by a conventional angiography system. In addition, the survival rates for 438 patients who underwent transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) as initial treatment were compared between patients who were treated using a unified CTA system and those who were treated without the system.

RESULTS. Overall, the survival rate was higher in patients who underwent pretreatment examination using a unified CTA system than in those who underwent examination without it (p < 0.0001). The survival rate was higher when focusing on patients with HCC of stage I (p = 0.0093). In patients who underwent TACE as an initial treatment, the survival rate was higher in patients treated by TACE using a unified CTA system than in those without it (p = 0.0023).

CONCLUSION. The more accurate and detailed pretreatment evaluation of HCC progression using a unified CTA system contributed to the improvement of survival of patients with HCC. In addition, it contributed to the improved efficacy of TACE with an increased survival rate.

Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma • survival • transcatheter arterial chemoembolization • tumor progression • unified CT angiography system

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