Renal tumor infarction with absolute ethanol.

Sixteen renal tumors were infarcted with intraarterial absolute ethanol. Renal tumor infarction was performed for one of three indications: for palliation of symptoms in patients with metastatic disease, as a preoperative measure to reduce blood loss during radical nephrectomy, or as a primary therapy in selected circumstances. In most cases, absolute ethanol was injected into the main renal artery through a balloon occlusion catheter. In all cases, ethanol produced effective infarction of the renal tumor. Only one complication developed, a perinephric abscess that developed several weeks after the infarction. Results indicate that absolute ethanol is a safe and effective agent for the infarction of renal tumors.