Impact of Endoscopic Indocyanine Green Fluorescence Imaging on Superselective Intra-arterial Chemotherapy for Recurrent Cancer of the Skull Base.

BACKGROUND/AIM: For advanced paranasal sinus cancer, intra-arterial (I-A) chemotherapy has been applied for improving prognosis and organ preservation. While computed tomographic angiography (CTA) is useful for identifying the tumor-feeding artery, CTA cannot always detect the precise artery. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of endoscopic ICG (indocyanine green) fluorescence technique during I-A chemotherapy for recurrent skull-base cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seven patients with recurrent skull-base cancer were included in this study. Conventional CTA followed by ICG was administered. Additional information regarding tumor-feeding arteries attained via ICG was evaluated.

RESULTS: Out of seven cases, the blood supply to the cancer was detected in three by CTA alone. By adding the endoscopic evaluation, the blood supply to the tumor was confirmed without difficulty in all cases. The information from endoscopic fluorescence imaging was helpful in making decisions concerning the administration of drugs for skull-base cancer.

CONCLUSION: Endoscopic ICG fluorescence imaging combined with I-A chemotherapy compensated for deficiencies of CTA and generated more useful information about the feeders to tumors than was previously available.