Nine patients with hepatic artery thrombosis subsequent to catheter placement (four surgical and five percutaneous) for hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy were treated with local thrombolytic therapy. The thromboses were located in the common hepatic,5proper hepatic3and left hepatic1arteries. Thrombolytic therapy was instituted within seven days of catheter placement, at a rate of 5,000 to 20,000 unitssol;hour (streptokinase) or 5,000 to 15,000 unitssol;hour (urokinase) for 15 to 64 hours. All patients had repeat angiography and99mTc-MAA hepatic artery perfusion scintigraphy after the infusion.In eight of the patients, thrombolytic therapy resulted in dissolution of the thrombus and recanalization of the hepatic artery. In three of these patients, rethrombosis occurred within a few days, and was attributed to underlying arterial abnormalities. The other five had documented continued hepatic arterial patency allowing completion of the chemotherapy course. The patient who did not respond to the lytic therapy had developed extensive collateral flow through the gastroduodenal artery to the liver.
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