Incidence of seed migration to the chest, abdomen, and pelvis after transperineal interstitial prostate brachytherapy with loose (125)I seeds

BACKGROUND: The aim was to determine the incidence of seed migration not only to the chest, but also to the abdomen and pelvis after transperineal interstitial prostate brachytherapy with loose (125)I seeds. METHODS: We reviewed the records of 267 patients who underwent prostate brachytherapy with loose (125)I seeds. After seed implantation, orthogonal chest radiographs, an abdominal radiograph, and a pelvic radiograph were undertaken routinely to document the occurrence and sites of seed migration. The incidence of seed migration to the chest, abdomen, and pelvis was calculated. All patients who had seed migration to the abdomen and pelvis subsequently underwent a computed tomography scan to identify the exact location of the migrated seeds. Postimplant dosimetric analysis was undertaken, and dosimetric results were compared between patients with and without seed migration. RESULTS: A total of 19,236 seeds were implanted in 267 patients. Overall, 91 of 19,236 (0.47%) seeds migrated in 66 of 267 (24.7%) patients. Sixty-nine (0.36%) seeds migrated to the chest in 54 (20.2%) patients. Seven (0.036%) seeds migrated to the abdomen in six (2.2%) patients. Fifteen (0.078%) seeds migrated to the pelvis in 15 (5.6%) patients. Seed migration occurred predominantly within two weeks after seed implantation. None of the 66 patients had symptoms related to the migrated seeds. Postimplant prostate D90 was not significantly different between patients with and without seed migration. CONCLUSION: We showed the incidence of seed migration to the chest, abdomen and pelvis. Seed migration did not have a significant effect on postimplant prostate D90.