Placement of a Long Tapered Side-Hole Catheter in the Hepatic Artery: Technical Advantages, Catheter Stability, and Arterial Patency

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the technical advantages, safety, and efficacy of placing a catheter distally in the hepatic artery using a long tapered side-hole catheter with an implantable port for hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy.SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Fifty patients with unresectable malignant liver tumors underwent radiologic implantation of catheter-port systems using the long tapered catheter placement method. A 2.7-French distal shaft of the catheter was inserted distally in the hepatic artery with its side hole located proximally, and a 5-French proximal shaft was placed in the aorta; the catheter tip was not fixed. Technical success, complications including catheter stability and hepatic artery patency, and tumor response were assessed and compared with the following two historical controls: 35 patients with a 5-French catheter inserted simply in the hepatic artery (conventional method), and 131 patients with a 5-French catheter, the tip of which was fixed in the gastr...