Interventional treatment of the carcinoid syndrome.

Liver metastases imply a major problem in patients with carcinoid tumours and hormone overproduction. Patients with distant metastases can undergo resection for potential cure or for symptom palliation. In patients with bilobar liver metastases other interventions are at hand, e.g. local ablation or hepatic arterial embolization. In selected cases liver transplantation can be a treatment alternative. Prior to all interventions patients with midgut carcinoids are protected with somatostatin analogues to reduce hormone secretion. Patients with foregut carcinoids may present special problems with life-threatening release of histamine during interventions.