Endovascular Management of Intractable Nasopharyngeal Hemorrhage in Patients Irradiated for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A Twelve-Year Experience

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy of endovascular treatment of intractable nasopharyngeal hemorrhage after radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and report the relevant endovascular therapeutic experience. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Records of patients who underwent endovascular treatment for intractable nasopharyngeal hemorrhage after irradiation for NPC from January 2007 to December 2019 were reviewed. The demographics, endovascular therapeutic details, and clinical outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS: Twenty-four consecutive patients were included in this study. Nineteen patients underwent embolization of the bilateral internal maxillary arteries; one patient underwent embolization of the right internal maxillary artery and the left external carotid artery; one patient underwent embolization of the left internal maxillary artery and the right internal carotid artery, and the other three patients underwent embolization of the unilateral internal carotid artery. During a mean follow-up of 600.9 days (range, 2–1658 days), twenty patients showed no recurrence of bleeding; one patient died of hemorrhagic shock; one patient had recurrent bleeding, and angiography revealed a pseudoaneurysm in the right internal carotid artery, which was then embolized with spring coil after a 30-min occlusion test. Two patients had recurrent bleeding on 2.5 months and 29.9 months respectively after the endovascular treatment, and angiography showed hypervascularity supplied by the bilateral internal maxillary arteries and then was embolized with polyvinyl alcohol particles. The three patients who received re-interventions showed no re-bleeding until the last follow-up. CONCLUSION: Pseudoaneurysm and hypervascularity are the main angiographic characteristics of patients with intractable nasopharyngeal hemorrhage after radiotherapy for NPC, and endovascular treatment provides a safe and effective management approach.