Papers of the Week

We investigated the long-term safety and efficacy of hepatic transarterial embolization (TAE) in patients with symptomatic polycystic liver disease (PLD). A total of 26 patients were included, mean age of 52.3 years (range: 33-78 years), undergoing 32 TAE procedures between January 2012 and December 2019 were included in this retrospective study. Distal embolization of the segmental hepatic artery was performed with 300-500 µm embolic microspheres associated with proximal embolization using microcoils. The primary endpoint was clinical efficacy, defined by an improvement in health-related quality of life using a modified Short Form-36 Health Survey and improvement in symptoms (digestive or respiratory symptoms and chronic abdominal pain), without invasive therapy during the follow-up period. Secondary endpoints were a decrease in total liver volume and treated liver volume and complications. Hepatic embolization was performed successfully in 30 of 32 procedures with no major adverse events. Clinical efficacy was 73% (19/26). The mean reduction in hepatic volume was -12.6% at 3 months and -27.8% at the last follow-up 51 ± 15.2 months after TAE (range: 30-81 months; both s < 0.01). The mean visual analog scale pain score was 5.4 ± 2.8 before TAE and decreased to 2.7 ± 1.9 after treatment. Three patients had minor adverse events, and one patient had an adverse event of moderate severity. Hepatic embolization using microspheres and microcoils is a safe and effective treatment for PLD that improves symptoms and reduces the volume of hepatic cysts.