Purpose To assess the incidence and severity of adverse events (AEs) in the form clinical symptoms and liver/biliary injuries (LBI) in patients with hepatic malignancies treated with transarterial chemoembolization using 70–150 μm drug-eluting beads (DEBs). Materials and Methods A single-institution retrospective analysis was performed in 37 patients (25 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and 12 patients with metastatic disease) who underwent 43 sessions of segmental/subsegmental 70–150 μm DEB transarterial chemoembolization with doxorubicin (38 sessions) or irinotecan (5 sessions). Patient inclusion criteria included the presence of the following lesion features: small diameter (≤ 3 cm), hypovascular, or with areas of residual disease after other locoregional therapies. Mean tumor diameter was 3.4 cm. Mean imaging and clinical follow-up periods were 171 days and 373 days, respectively. Clinical, laboratory, and imaging data were used to identify and classify clinically symptomatic AEs per session and LBI per patient according to the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, version 4.03. Predictors for the occurrence of LBI were evaluated by logistic regression analysis. Results No grade 4 or 5 AEs were recorded. Clinically symptomatic AEs occurred in 29 (67.4%) sessions (grade 1–2, 28 sessions; grade 3, 1 session), all constituting postembolization syndrome. Asymptomatic LBI occurred in 11 (29.7%) patients (grade 1, 8 patients; grade 2, 3 patients). The mean time between 70–150 μm DEB transarterial chemoembolization session and appearance of LBI was 71 days (range, 21–223 d). No predictive factors for the development of LBI were identified. Conclusions Transarterial chemoembolization with 70–150 μm DEBs was considered safe in the present study population given the acceptably low incidence and severity of AEs.

Percutaneous renal biopsy with ultrasound guidance is a helpful procedure regularly performed to obtain renal tissue diagnosis for rejection in the postrenal transplant setting; however, it is not without risks. We report the case of a 42-year-old male with end stage renal disease who developed a subcapsular hematoma, with subsequent hypertension and renal failure, compatible with acute page kidney as a complication of the renal biopsy. The ultrasound images demonstrated classic imaging appearances which all diagnostic and interventional radiologists should be aware of. The patient was managed successfully with conventional open surgical evacuation of the hematoma with return to baseline laboratories and vital signs after the procedure.