BackgroundThis study examined the safety, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy of transarterial chemoembolization of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using a newly developed size of a superabsorbent polymer drug-eluting embolic material.MethodsForty-five patients with documented HCC (Child–Pugh score A/B: 55.5 %/44.5 %) were embolized with HepaSphere microspheres 30–60 μm with escalation of lesion, dose, and frequency of re-embolization. Local response was evaluated with modified response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (mRECIST). Plasma levels of doxorubicin were measured in 24 patients at baseline and at 5, 20, 40, 60, and 120 min, at 6, 24, and 48 h, and at 7 days, respectively, to determine doxorubicin in plasma (Cmax) and area under the curve (AUC). Measurements of three patients who underwent lipiodol-based conventional chemoembolization (c-TACE) were also performed.ResultsTACE with HepaSphere was well tolerated with an acceptable safety profile and no 30-day mortality. Response rates were calculated on intention-to-treat basis with complete response (CR) in 17.8 % reaching 22.2 % for the target lesion. Overall partial response (PR) was seen in 51.1 %, stable disease in 20 %, and progressive disease in 11.1 % of patients. Overall objective response (CR + PR), including patients treated at all dosages of doxorubicin, was seen in 68.9 % of cases. After a median follow-up of 15.6 months, 1-year survival is 100 %. Doxorubicin AUC was significantly lower in patients with HepaSphere 30–60 μm (35,195 ± 27,873 ng × min/ml) than in patients with conventional TACE (103,960 ± 16,652 ng × min/ml; p = 0.009). Cmax was also significantly lower with HepaSphere 30–60 μm (83.9 ± 32.1 ng/ml) compared with c-TACE (761.3 ± 58.8 ng/ml; p = 0.002).ConclusionHepaSphere 30–60 μm is an effective drug-eluting embolic material with a favourable pharmacokinetic profile.

BackgroundPrimary or metastatic osseous and soft tissue lesions can be treated by ablation techniques.MethodsThese techniques are classified into chemical ablation (including ethanol or acetic acid injection) and thermal ablation (including laser, radiofrequency, microwave, cryoablation, radiofrequency ionisation and MR-guided HIFU). Ablation can be performed either alone or in combination with surgical or other percutaneous techniques.ResultsIn most cases, ablation provides curative treatment for benign lesions and malignant lesions up to 3 cm. Furthermore, it can be a palliative treatment providing pain reduction and local control of the disease, diminishing the tumour burden and mass effect on organs. Ablation may result in bone weakening; therefore, whenever stabilisation is undermined, bone augmentation should follow ablation depending on the lesion size and location.ConclusionThermal ablation of bone and soft tissues demonstrates high success and relatively low complication rates. However, the most common complication is the iatrogenic thermal damage of surrounding sensitive structures. Nervous structures are very sensitive to extremely high and low temperatures with resultant transient or permanent neurological damage. Thermal damage can cause normal bone osteonecrosis in the lesion’s periphery, surrounding muscular atrophy and scarring, and skin burns. Successful thermal ablation requires a sufficient ablation volume and thermal protection of the surrounding vulnerable structures.Teaching points• Percutaneous ablations constitute a safe and efficacious therapy for treatment of osteoid osteoma.• Ablation techniques can treat painful malignant MSK lesions and provide local tumour control.• Thermal ablation of bone and soft tissues demonstrates high success and low complication rates.• Nerves, cartilage and skin are sensitive to extremely high and low temperatures.• Successful thermal ablation occasionally requires thermal protection of the surrounding structures.

When compared with conservative therapy, PDD shows improved amelioration of symptoms at 12- and 24-month follow-up.

Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are minimally invasive techniques applied for the treatment of vertebral fractures. Since not all vertebral compression fractures are the same, a tailored-based approach is necessary for optimum efficacy and safety results. Nowadays, different cements and materials are proposed as alternatives to the original poly-methylmethacrylate aiming to overcome the limitations and the risks governing its use. Both techniques are governed by high efficacy and low complication rates; multilevel treatment in a single session has been shown to be feasible with no compromise of the technique's safety and efficacy. The purpose of this article is to describe the basic concepts of spinal augmentation by means of vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty. The current status and future of cements used will be defined. Controversies upon issues concerning both techniques will be addressed. Finally, the necessity for a tailored-based approach applying different techniques for different fractures will be addressed.

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Different interventional procedures performed under imaging guidance permit the diagnosis and treatment of the many causes of back pain. Sources of pain amenable to be treated include facet joints, vertebral body, intervertebral disk, and paraspinal structures including nerves and ganglion roots. These procedures may be merely diagnostic, therapeutic, or intended for both purposes. We review the main indications, advantages, and complications of these techniques.

Low back pain and neuralgia due to spinal pathology are very common symptoms debilitating numerous patients with peak prevalence at ages between 45 and 60 years. Intervertebral discs and facet joints act as pain sources in the vast majority of the cases. Diagnosis is based on the combination of clinical examination and imaging studies. Therapeutic armamentarium for low back pain and neuralgia due to intervertebral discs and/or facet joints includes conservative therapy, injections, percutaneous therapeutic techniques and surgical options. Percutaneous, therapeutic techniques are imaging-guided, minimally invasive treatments which can be performed as outpatient procedures. In cases of facet joint syndrome, they include, apart from injections, neurolysis with radiofrequency/cryoablation, MR-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound and percutaneous fixation techniques. In case of discogenic pain, apart from infiltrations, therapeutic techniques can be classified in to two main categories: decompression (mechanical, thermal, chemical) techniques and biomaterials implantation/disc cell therapies. Strict sterility measures are a prerequisite and should include extensive local sterility and antibiotic prophylaxis. This article will report clinical and imaging findings for each pathology type and the association with treatment decision. In addition, we will describe in detail all possible treatment techniques for low back pain and neuralgia, and we will report recently published results of these techniques summarizing the data concerning safety and effectiveness as well as the level of evidence. Finally, we will try to provide a rational approach for the therapy of low back pain and neuralgia by means of minimally invasive imaging-guided percutaneous techniques.

Excessive lordosis is a common finding and may produce mechanical pressure that causes repetitive strains of the interspinous ligament with subsequent degeneration and collapse. Baastrup’s disease (kissing spine syndrome) is a term referring to close approximation of adjacent spinous processes due to degenerative changes of the spine. Baastrup’s disease usually affects the lumbar spine, with L4-L5 being the most commonly affected level. There is higher occurrence at ages over 70 and no gender predilection. Symptoms include back pain with midline distribution that worsens during extension, is relieved during flexion and is exaggerated upon finger pressure at the level of interest. Diagnosis rests on clinical examination and imaging studies. The hallmark of imaging findings is the close approximation and contact of adjacent spinous processes, with all the subsequent findings including oedema, cystic lesions, sclerosis, flattening and enlargement of the articulating surfaces, bursitis and occasionally epidural cysts or midline epidural fibrotic masses. Proposed therapies include conservative treatment, percutaneous infiltrations or surgical therapies such as excision of the bursa or osteotomy. The purpose of this study is to illustrate the spectrum of imaging findings in Baastrup’s disease and to emphasise upon including the syndrome in the list of potential causes of low-back pain.Teaching Points• Baastrup’s disease refers to close approximation of adjacent spinous processes.• Diagnosis of Baastrup’s disease is verified with clinical examination and imaging studies.• Contact of adjacent spinous processes results in oedema, sclerosis, flattening and enlargement.• Proposed therapies include conservative treatment, percutaneous infiltrations or surgical therapies.