Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Jun 27, 2023; 15(6): 1232-1239
Published online Jun 27, 2023. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v15.i6.1232
Massive bleeding from a gastric artery pseudoaneurysm in hepatocellular carcinoma treated with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab: A case report
Fu-Wen Pang, Bin Chen, De-Ti Peng, Jian He, Wei-Cheng Zhao, Tuan-Tuan Chen, Zong-Gui Xie, Hai-Hui Deng
Fu-Wen Pang, Bin Chen, Jian He, Wei-Cheng Zhao, Tuan-Tuan Chen, Zong-Gui Xie, Hai-Hui Deng, Department of Interventional Radiology, Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Shenzhen 518033, Guangdong Province, China
De-Ti Peng, Department of Hepatology, Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Shenzhen 518033, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Pang FW and Chen B contributed equally to this work; the treatment plan was designed by Xie ZG and Deng HH; treatment was performed by Pang FW and Deng HH; Pang FW and Chen B wrote the manuscript; Pang FW, Chen B, He J, Zhao WC, and Chen TT participated in data acquisition and manuscript revision; Xie ZG, Peng DT, and Deng HH supervised the study; all authors approved the final manuscript.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hai-Hui Deng, MD, Doctor, Department of Interventional Radiology, Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, No. 1 Fuhua Road, Futian District, Shenzhen 518033, Guangdong Province, China. dhaihui@163.com
Received: January 12, 2023
Peer-review started: January 12, 2023
First decision: January 21, 2023
Revised: January 30, 2023
Accepted: April 19, 2023
Article in press: April 19, 2023
Published online: June 27, 2023
Processing time: 154 Days and 1.1 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Atezolizumab (ATZ) + bevacizumab (BVZ) treatment increases the risk of bleeding in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. Gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is most common and usually arises from esophageal varices. We report a patient with advanced HCC who presented with massive upper GI bleeding from a gastric artery pseudoaneurysm after three cycles of ATZ + BVZ. Gastric artery pseudoaneurysm is rare and often asymptomatic. Mortality is high and emergency endovascular embolization is required. Patients receiving ATZ + BVZ treatment should be followed closely for GI bleeding. Arterial bleeding should be considered when massive GI bleeding occurs. Angiography may be required for diagnosis. Embolization has a role in treatment.