Background: A single catheter technique of hepatic venous isolation and charcoal hemoperfusion (HVI-CHP) using a 4-lumen/2-balloon (4L-2B) catheter was developed to perform high-dose intra-arterial chemotherapy of the liver. Herein we report the technique, safety, and pharmacokinetics of this system in comparison with the original double-balloon technique.
Patients and methods: Sixteen patients with malignant liver tumors were treated by hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) with adriamycin at a dose of 100 mg/m2 under HVI-CHP. Seven patients underwent HVI-CHP by the double-balloon technique (group A), in which filtered hepatic effluent and the rest of the inferior vena caval blood were separately drawn and returned to the left axillary vein. The other nine patients were treated by the single catheter technique (group B). In group B, hepatic effluent was isolated by balloon inflations and directed to filters through fenestrations of one major lumen of a 4L-2B catheter. The filtered blood was returned straight to the right atrium through the other major lumen of the catheter.
Results: All patients in group A had a smooth stepwise induction of HVI-CHP, whereas one of nine patients in group B developed severe hypotension requiring interruption of HVI. The hepatic venous flow rate in group B during HVI-CHP was significantly higher than that in group A (P < 0.05). Systemic adriamycin exposure, as assessed by the area under the time concentration curve in systemic serum, was significantly higher in group A compared to that in group B (P < 0.01).
Conclusions: The single catheter technique is hemodynamically tolerable and feasible in the majority of patients with malignant liver tumors. In view of systemic drug exposure, the single catheter technique is superior to the original double-balloon technique.