To investigate the clinical value of ultrasound-guided freehand percutaneous ¹²⁵I seeds implantation for central type carcinoma of liver.

The clinical data of 15 patients with central type carcinoma of liver in China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University between September 2013 and June 2015 were collected. All patients were performed ultrasound-guided freehand percutaneous ¹²⁵I seeds implantation. The rates of local control, complication, postoperative survival of all patients were evaluated.

Fifteen patients were performed successfully according to the preoperative plans. The operation time ranged from 0.5 to 1.5 h with a median time of 0.80 h. By comparison of CT images before and 3 months after operation, there were 3 cases of complete remission (CR), 10 of partial remission (PR), 2 of stable (SD), and none of progression (PD), with a total effective rate of 86.7% (13/15). A small amount of peri-hepatic effusion appeared immediately after operation in 1 cases, which had a spontaneous improvement without treatment. One case of abdominal wall implant metastasis occurred at 3 months after operation, the incidence of surgical complications was 13.4% (2/15). The survival rates at 3, 6 and 12 months after operation were 100.0%, 100.0% and 80.0%, respectively.

Ultrasound-guided freehand percutaneous ¹²⁵I seeds implantation can be an effective method for patients with central type carcinoma of liver, with less surgical trauma, better short-term efficacy and fewer complications.