pISSN 2287-2728 eISSN 2287-285X Original Article http://dx.doi.org/10.3350/cmh.2012.18.3.302 Clinical and Molecular Hepatology 2012;18:302-308 Thrombocytopenia represents a risk for deterioration of liver function after radiofrequency ablation in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma Hyun Seok Lee, Soo Young Park, Sung Kook Kim, Young Oh Kweon, Won Young Tak, Chang Min Cho, Seong Woo Jeon, Min Kyu Jung, Hyun Gu Park, Dong Wook Lee, and So Young Choi Department of Internal Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Kyungpook National University College of Medicine, Daegu, Korea Background/Aims: We evaluated changes in liver function parameters and risk factors for the deterioration of liver function 12 months after percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) therapy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: The subjects in this retrospective study comprised 102 patients with HCC who had undergone RFA therapy and exhibited no recurrence of HCC 12  months thereafter. Serial changes in serum total bilirubin and albumin, prothrombin time, and Child-Pugh score were evaluated before RFA and 3, 6, 9, and 12 months thereafter. Deterioration of liver function was defined when the Child-Pugh score increased by at least 2 at 12 months after RFA therapy. We determined the factors related to aggravation of liver function after RFA therapy. Results: Liver function had deteriorated 12 months after RFA in 29 patients (28.4%). Serum albumin levels decreased significantly from before (3.7±0.1  g/dL, mean±SD) to 12  months after RFA therapy (3.3±0.1  g/dL, P =0.002). The Child-Pugh score increased significantly during the same time period (from 6.1±0.2 to 7.2±0.3, P <0.001). Pre-RFA thrombocytopenia (≤100,000/mm3) was revealed as a significant risk factor for the deterioration of liver function after RFA. However, no patients had episodes of bleeding as a complication of RFA. Conclusions: Among the liver-function parameters, serum albumin level was markedly decreased in HCC patients over the course of 24 months after RFA therapy. A pre-RFA thrombocytopenia represents a major risk factor for the deterioration of liver function. (Clin Mol Hepatol 2012;18:302-308) Keywords: Radiofrequency ablation; Thrombocytopenia, Liver function INTRODUCTION the patients are eligible for surgical resection because of multiple tumors in both lobes, location of the tumor to major vascular and Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common biliary structures precluding margin-negative surgical resection, malignancies worldwide with an increasing number of patients.1,2 Surgical treatment is curative treatment method for HCC if the tu- mor is single in non-cirrhotic liver.3 However only 10% to 37% of advanced stage on presentation, or poor liver function reservoir due to the underlying liver disease.4-6 Liver transplantation pro- vides an alternative curative treatment for small unresectable Abbreviations: AFP, alpha fetoprotein; AIH, autoimmune hepatitis; ALT, alanine aminotrasferase; BCAA, branched-chain amino acid; CT, computed tomogram; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; IL, interleukin; PEI, percutaneous ethanol injection; PT, prothrombin time; RFA, radiofrequency ablation; TACE, transarterial chemoembolization Corresponding author : Soo Young Park Department of Internal Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, 130 Dongdeok-ro, Jung-gu, Daegu 700-721, Korea Tel. +82-53-200-5515, Fax. +82-53-426-8773 E-mail; psyoung0419@gmail.com Received : Mar. 15, 2012 / Revised : Aug. 13, 2012 / Accepted : Aug. 20, 2012 Copyright © 2012 by The Korean Association for the Study of the Liver This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.