Retrospective Comparative Study of Absolute Ethanol with N-Butyl-2-Cyanoacrylate in Percutaneous Portal Vein Embolization

Purpose: This study compared the efficacy of absolute ethanol with that of N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate (NBCA) in portal vein embolization (PVE) before partial hepatectomy. Materials and Methods: Between January 2012 and February 2016, 61 patients (43 men, 18 women; median; 69 years of age) underwent PVE using absolute ethanol (January 2012 to January 2014; n = 27) or NBCA (February 2014 to February 2016; n = 34). The primary endpoint was increase in the nonembolized liver volume (NELV)-to-total functional liver volume (TFLV) ratio, and the secondary endpoints were changes in embolized liver volume (ELV) and NELV, changes in laboratory data, and adverse events. Results: The increase in the NELV/TFLV ratio was significantly higher in the ethanol group than in the NBCA group (13.0% vs. 9.5%, respectively; P = 0.003). The decrease in ELV was significantly greater in the ethanol group (-191.9 vs. -99.2 mL, respectively; P = 0.001). The increase in NELV did not differ significantly (129.4 vs. 116.0 mL, respectively; P = 0.316). In the ethanol group, grade 3-4 transient elevation of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase occurred in 22 patients (81.5%) and 22 patients (81.5%) patients, respectively, whereas it occurred in 1 patient (3.0%) and 1 patient (3.0%), respectively, in the NBCA group. One patient in the ethanol group (3.7%) showed grade 2 hepatic necrosis, and 2 patients with grade 3 subcapsular biloma (5.9%) and 1 with grade 3 liver abscess (2.9%) occurred in the NBCA group (P = 0.696). Conclusions: PVE with ethanol conferred greater increase in the NELV/TFLV ratio than NBCA due to its severe atrophic effect in ELV, but no significant differences in NELV increase were found.