[Fabrication and clinical application of intrahepatic arterial catheter facilitating repeated infusion therapy and experience].

Balloon occluded arterial infusion (BOAI) is an ideal and widely accepted method for augmentation of the intrahepatic tissue level of anticancer drugs. But this method nakes repeated infusion very difficult because the Seldinger method is needed to cannulate into the hepatic artery. Recently, we made an intrahepatic artery catheter attached with an implantable reservoir, consisting of an intra-arterial catheter, reservoir and cylinder-like device which has a small balloon on its inner part. The cannulation is done at laparotomy. With this method, five cases of nonresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, one metastatic liver cancer and one noncurative hepatocellular carcinoma were treated. Intrahepatic vessels were quite visible by DSA using CO2 gas. Serum concentration level of adriamycin was lower and undetectable at 120 minutes after infusion. No side effects nor catheter complications were observed. Intra-arterial infusion therapy using this device will be a most useful routine method for cancer control in the outpatient clinic.