Ethanol sclerotherapy or polidocanol sclerotherapy for symptomatic hepatic cysts

BackgroundOver the past decades, multiple approaches to aspiration sclerotherapy of large symptomatic hepatic cysts have been investigated. However, comparative data are scarce.ObjectiveThe objective of this article is to compare cyst reduction, symptomatic relief, and adverse events between ethanol sclerotherapy and polidocanol sclerotherapy.MethodsThis retrospective study included adults having a symptomatic hepatic cyst treated at a European tertiary referral center with ethanol sclerotherapy (Center 1) or polidocanol-sclerotherapy (Center 2). We compared cyst diameter reduction (%) and symptom improvement (yes/no) within 12 months’ post-treatment between centers using multivariate regression analyses adjusted for confounding factors. Finally, we compared adverse events using Fisher’s exact test.ResultsWe included 71 patients from Center 1 and 66 patients from Center 2 (median age 57 years; 126/137 (92%) female). Cyst reduction was comparable between Centers 1 and 2: 37.5% (IQR 15.7–61.0%) versus 44.2%...