Side-effects and complications of intra-arterial tumour therapy -experience gained from 577 interventions

305 bearers of different types of tumour went through a total of 577 cycles of intra-arterial therapy (287 perfusions, 290 embolizations). The treatments were carried out for pelvic, hepatic, renal and mammary tumours, for bone metastization, pulmonary carcinomas as well as tumours of the gastrointestinal tract or the extremities. Except for 105 cases, all patients had previously been subjected to surgery or radiotherapy to cure the disease now treated by the intra-arterial method. Systemic chemotherapy had been performed in 58% of the patients. The cytostatic and embolization drugs used varied according to tumour histology and vascularization. Serious complications occurred in 1-2% of the patients. They were observed to be two times more frequent for tumour embolization (1.4%) as compared to intra-arterial perfusion therapy (0.7%). An invariable use of refined methods like intraarterial computerized angiotomography to monitor perfusion and a choice of cytostatic drugs also based on anatomic determinants may further diminish the number of serious complications during perfusion therapy. (orig./VHE)