OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the effectiveness and practical outcomes of percutaneous ethanol sclerotherapy in patients with symptomatic simple renal cysts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors reviewed the outcomes of ten patients (eight men and two women) in the age range between 28 and 72 years (mean, 55 years) submitted to at least two procedures of percutaneous sclerotherapy for symptomatic simple renal cysts. Main presentation was refractory flank pain in all patients, seven of them with some degree of hydronephrosis because of the parapyelic localization of the cyst. The aspirated volume ranged from 20 to 1300 ml (mean, 200 ml). The mean follow-up period following the procedure was of seven months. Two patients had ultrasoud-guided sclerotherapy, and eight, computed tomography-guided sclerotherapy. The hospital stay period ranged between 24 and 72 hours. Complete success corresponded to total cyst regression, and partial success corresponded to recurrence of less than half the original cyst volume. RESULTS: Complete cyst ablation was achieved in seven patients and partial resolution in three. No complication was observed and the therapy was well tolerated by all of the patients. CONCLUSION: Percutaneous ethanol sclerotherapy of symptomatic simple renal cysts is a safe, effective and minimally invasive procedure, with results similar to the ones reported by other studies.

Keywords: Kidney diseases, Sclerotherapy, Ethanol

OBJECTIVE: To check the effect of ultrasound-guided percutaneous ethanol injection for treatment of cystic thyroid nodules. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A comparison was made of the volume of 34 benign cystic nodules in 30 patients (26 female, four male), before and 3.9 months (on average) after alcoholization. For the purpose of finding out interobserver variations in echographic measurements, the initial volume of the nodules was assessed by means of ultrasound at different moments, by two observers, without any previous knowledge on the nodules size. RESULTS: Mean volume of nodules before treatment was 12.3 ± 18.0 ml. Mean reduction rate in nodules after alcoholization was 74.0 ± 26.1% (p < 0.0001) and 7/34 (20.6%) of the nodules disappeared. There was no correlation between nodules size and reduction rate. The average interobserver nodule measurement variation was 0.5 ml, for an alpha of 5%. Moderate pain at the time of injection was the most frequent complication. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound-guided percutaneous ethanol injection is a safe and effective option for treatment of cystic thyroid nodules.

Keywords: Thyroid gland nodule, Nodular goiter, Ethanol, Interventional ultrasonography, Prospective studies

Venous malformations can be treated by surgical resection or pharmacological sclerotherapy. This study shows the results of 12 patients with angiodysplasia whose lesions were injected several times with ethanol, after clinical examination and percutaneous venous angiography. Ten patients presented improvement of symptoms and reduction of the size of the lesion. All patients complained about a burning sensation during the procedure that disappeared after 24 hours. Three patients presented small skin ulcers and one had erythema and painful enlarged lymph nodes in the treated limb. We concluded that sclerotherapy with infusion of small volumes of ethanol for the treatment of venous malformations is an effective, safe, simple, easy and quick treatment, that has few complications, low cost, and is well tolerated.

Keywords: Ethanol. Venous malformations. Angiodisplasy. Angiography.

OBJECTIVE: The present article is aimed at reporting the author's experience with transcatheter arterial embolization using a lipiodol-ethanol mixture in three cases of unresectable symptomatic giant hepatic hemangiomas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cases of three patients with giant unresectable symptomatic hepatic hemangiomas embolized in the period 2009-2010 were retrospectively reviewed. In all the cases, transarterial embolization was performed with an ethanol-lipiodol mixture. RESULTS: Symptoms regression and quality of life improvement were observed in all the cases. No complications were observed and all the patients were discharged within 12 hours after the procedure. CONCLUSION: Transcatheter arterial embolization using ethanol mixed with lipiodol was a safe and effective treatment for symptomatic giant hepatic hemangiomas in this small series of patients.

Keywords: Hemangioma; Therapeutic embolization; Ethanol; Ethiodized oil.