Cutaneous seeding after ultrasound-guided percutaneous ethanol injection for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Cutaneous seeding is a rare complication of interventional ultrasound procedures. We describe a case of needle-track cutaneous seeding of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after sonographically guided percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI). In our case, the seeding might have been related to the type of needle used and the multiple passes required to treat the liver lesion. Despite the risk of needle-track seeding, PEI remains useful in the treatment of HCC. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.