To evaluate the impact of pre-TACE on postoperative hepatic artery complications (HAC) for HCC patients in a single liver transplant center.
Clinical data of 450 HCC patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) from January 2001 to December 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into Group 1 (with pre-TACE) and Group 2 (without pre-TACE). Preoperative characteristics and postoperative HAC were compared.
One hundred and eleven patients (69 men; median age, 37 ± 9.9 years) in Group 1 were compared with 339 patients (244 men; median age, 38.8 ± 8.0 years) in Group 2. Patients were comparable in donor/recipients characteristics between groups. Histological review for native liver samples showed that Edema was the most often seen complication following pre-OLT TACE (troncluar: 87 vs 9; segmental: 91 vs 10; liver parenchyma: 93 vs 8; P = 0.000). Fibrosis, thrombosis and aneurysm were only seen in Group 1. There were no significant difference in postoperative HAC (5/111 (4.5%) vs 5/339 (1.5%), P = 0.131) between groups.
Our single institution experience showed that it might be safe to perform pre-TACE in HCC patients before OLT. It would not increase postoperative HAC risk.