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Objectives To assess the clinical and the economic impacts of intraprocedural use of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in patients undergoing percutaneous radiofrequency ablation for small (

Percutaneous laser ablation (PLA) may be useful in treating patients with metachronous metastatic lymph nodes in the neck.Our objective was to assess PLA as a treatment of difficult-to-treat metachronous cervical lymph node metastases from papillary thyroid carcinoma.We conducted a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data at a public hospital.Fifteen patients with previous resection of papillary thyroid carcinoma with elevated serum levels of thyroglobulin (Tg) or anti-Tg antibodies (TgAbs) and 24 metachronous nodal metastases treated between September 2010 and April 2012 were followed with [¹⁸F]fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS).Intervention was PLA.Technique feasibility and technical success were evaluated. Tg/TgAb serum levels and ¹⁸FDG-PET/CT, and CEUS appearance were assessed at 6 and 12 months and compared with baseline. Complications were recorded.PLA was always feasible, and technical success was achieved in all patients. At 6 months, local control was achieved in 11 of 15 patients (73%), with 6 (40%) having serum Tg/TgAb normalized (P = .017 vs baseline). Whereas 20 of 24 (83%) nodes were negative at ¹⁸FDG-PET/CT and CEUS (P.001 vs baseline), 4 were ¹⁸FDG-PET/CT-positive (3 also CEUS-positive). At the 12-month follow-up, local control was achieved in 10 of 14 patients (71.4%). Sixteen of 20 nodes (80%) were negative at ¹⁸FDG-PET/CT and CEUS (P.001 vs baseline), 4 were ¹⁸FDG-PET/CT-positive (2 also CEUS-positive). Four of 10 (40%) patients had normalization of serum Tg/TgAb (P = .098 vs baseline). No major complications occurred.PLA is potentially feasible, safe, and effective for the treatment of metachronous cervical nodal metastases from papillary thyroid carcinoma. This procedure may reduce or delay a large number of highly invasive repeat neck dissections.

To evaluate the reduction over time of benign thyroid nodules treated using percutaneous laser ablation (PLA) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) by the same equipe.Ninety patients (age 55.6 ± 14.1 years) underwent ablation for benign thyroid nodule causing compression/aesthetic dissatisfaction from 2011. Fifty-nine (age 55.8 ± 14.1 years) underwent RFA and 31 (age 55.2 ± 14.2 years) PLA, ultrasound guided. Technical success, complications, duration of ablation and treatment, energy deployed, volumetric percentage reduction at 1, 6 and 12 months were derived. A regression model for longitudinal measurements was used with random intercept and random slope. Values are expressed as mean ± standard deviation or N (%).Technical success was always obtained. No major complications occurred. Mean ablation time was 30.1 ± 13.8 vs. 13.9 ± 5.9 min (p .0001) and mean energy deployment was 5422.3 ± 2484.5 J vs. 34 662.7 ± 15 812.3 J in PLA vs. RFA group. Mean volume reduced from 20.3 ± 16.4 ml to 13.17 ± 10.74 ml (42% ± 17% reduction) at 1st month, 8.7 ± 7.4 ml (60% ± 15% reduction) at 6th month and 7.1 ± 7.7 ml (70%% ± 16% reduction) at 12th month, in PLA group, and from 32.7 ± 19.5 ml to 17.2 ± 12.9 ml (51%±15% reduction) at 1st month, 12.8 ± 9.6 ml (64 ± 14% reduction) at 6th month and 9.9 ± 9.2 ml (74% ± 14% reduction) at 12th month in RFA group. No difference in time course of the relative volume reduction between the two techniques was found.RFA and PLA are similarly feasible, safe and effective in treating benign thyroid nodules when performed by the same equipe. RFA is faster than PLA but require significantly higher energy.

To assess the effectiveness of percutaneous laser ablation (PLA) of cervical lymph node metastases from papillary thyroid carcinoma. 24 patients (62.3 ± 13.2 year; range 32–80) previously treated with thyroidectomy, neck dissection, and radioiodine ablation underwent ultrasound-guided PLA of 46 18FDG-PET/CT—positive metachronous nodal metastases. All patients were at high surgical risk or refused surgery and were unsuitable for additional radioiodine ablation. A 300 µm quartz fiber and a continuous-wave Nd-YAG laser operating at 1.064 mm were used. Technical success, rate of complications, rate of serological conversion, and local control at follow-up were derived. Fisher’s exact test and Mann–Whitney U test were used and Kaplan–Meier curve calculated. Technical success was obtained in all 46 lymph nodes (100 %). There were no major complications. Thyroglobulin levels decreased from 8.40 ± 9.25 ng/ml before treatment to 2.73 ± 4.0 ng/ml after treatment (p = 0.011), with serological conversion in 11/24 (45.8 %) patients. Overall, local control was obtained in 40/46 (86.9 %) lymph nodes over 30 ± 11 month follow-up, with no residual disease seen at imaging in 19/24 (79.1 %) patients. Local control was achieved in 40/46 (86.9 %) lymph nodes at 1 year and in all of the 25 nodes (100 %) followed for 3 years. Estimated mean time to progression was 38.6 ± 2.7 m. Ultrasound-guided PLA is a feasible, safe, and effective therapy for the treatment of cervical lymph node metastases from papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Radiofrequency (RF) treatments of non-resectable hepatic tumors are generally guided with real-time sonography, which, however, cannot differentiate necrotic changes from viable tumor. To achieve complete treatment of hepatic tumors, accurate imaging techniques are needed for close treatment follow-up. Usually contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are used; however, they can be performed only at the end of treatment sessions. In this field, contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has shown to improve the sensitivity of plain ultrasonography. Recently, further developments of contrast-enhanced US technique have significantly increased its clinical utility. Continuous mode, low MI scans performed with harmonic imaging and contrast specific software appears as a very useful technique for the visualization of both macro- and microcirculation with depiction of tumor vascularisation. In our hospital, we have been employing contrast-enhanced sonography with sulphur hexaflouride microbubbles (SonoVue, Bracco, Italy) before, during and immediately at the end of RF ablation procedures to monitor and assess the therapeutic result prior to closing the treatment session. The results obtained in a group of 109 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in liver cirrhosis (192 lesions) and in 53 patients with liver metastases (97 lesions) undergoing a single session of percutaneous RF tumor ablation, showed that the sensitivity of CEUS for the detection of residual tumor was almost equivalent to that of contrast-enhanced helical CT. More importantly, since the introduction of intraoperative CEUS the rate of partially unablated tumors has dropped from 16.1 to 5.9%. Cost-effectiveness and reduction of patients' discomfort related to the need of re-treatment are the two most outstanding advantages of CEUS in this field.

Percutaneous radiofrequency (RF) ablation is a promising therapeutic option for liver metastases, which may result in prolonged survival and chance for cure. Recent technological advancements provide larger coagulation volumes, allowing treatment of medium- and large-size metastases. Candidates are patients with metachronous liver metastases from colorectal or other primary cancers, in whom surgery is contraindicated and with one to four nodules each smaller than approx. 4 cm. We treated 109 patients with 172 colorectal metastases in the liver. Local control was obtained in 70.4% of lesions. Recurrence was significantly more frequent in lesions >3 cm. One major complication occurred (0.6% of sessions), a large bowel perforation requiring surgery. Seven minor complications did not require therapy. New metastases developed at follow-up in 50.4% of patients. Survival rates are 67% and 33% after 2 and 3 years, respectively; estimated median survival being 30 months. RF ablation advantages include minimal-invasiveness (no mortality, significantly lower complications), reduced costs and hospital stays compared to surgery, feasibility in non-surgical candidates, and the potential of repeated treatment if local recurrence occurs or new metastases develop.

The last ten years have seen dramatic changes in the therapeutic approach to both primary (i.e., hepatocellular carcinoma: HCC) and secondary (i.e., metastatic lesions) focal liver malignancies. This has been due to the increasing proliferation of new modalities, including percutaneous ablative therapies (ethanol injection: PEI; radiofrequency: RF; laser; microwaves), angiographic therapies (segmental chemoembolization; hypoxic perfusion) and liver transplantation (OLT), in addition to a greater acceptance of pre-existing modalities (resection; systemic chemotherapy). Thus, a main aim of current medical management is to select for each patient the therapeutic modality which will provide the highest success rate, fewest risks and lowest costs for each given situation. However, in order to decide on the appropriate therapeutic choice, the accurate diagnosis of neoplastic lesions by means of one or more imaging modalities (ultrasound: US; computed tomography: CT; magnetic resonance: MR) is mandatory. This imaging work-up can be viewed as having three purposes: lesion detection, lesion characterization, intrahepatic and extrahepatic cancer staging. The present paper is concerned primarily with the imaging approach to liver lesion detection.

This study was designed to assess feasibility of US-CT/MRI fusion-guided ablation in liver tumors undetectable with US. From 2002 to 2012, 295 tumors (162 HCCs and 133 metastases; mean diameter 1.3 ± 0.6 cm, range 0.5–2.5 cm) detectable on contrast-enhanced CT/MRI, but completely undetectable with unenhanced US and either totally undetectable or incompletely conspicuous with contrast-enhanced US (CEUS), were treated in 215 sessions using either internally cooled radiofrequency or microwave with standard ablation protocols, guided by an image fusion system (Virtual Navigation System, Esaote S.p.A., Genova, Italy) that combines US with CT/ MRI images. Correct targeting and successful ablation of tumor were verified after 24 hours with CT or MRI. A total of 282 of 295 (95.6 %) tumors were correctly targeted with successful ablation achieved in 266 of 295 (90.2 %). Sixteen of 295 (5.4 %) tumors were correctly targeted, but unsuccessfully ablated, and 13 of 295 (4.4 %) tumors were unsuccessfully ablated due to inaccurate targeting. There were no perioperative deaths. Major complications were observed in 2 of the 215 treatments sessions (0.9 %). Real-time virtual navigation system with US-CT/MRI fusion imaging is precise for targeting and achieving successful ablation of target tumors undetectable with US alone. Therefore, a larger population could benefit from ultrasound guided ablation procedures.

Radiofrequency ablation is used for the treatment of a variety of neoplasms including: osteoid osteoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma, bronchopulmonary carcinoma, parathyroid adenoma;1 hepatic and retroperitoneal metastases from a variety of primary tumors. The size of the coagulation zone is a crucial factor, as only a complete coagulation of the tumor including a sufficient safety zone inhibits local recurrence. Thus many efforts have been made to enlarge the coagulation zone using multiprobe arrays, saline perfusion, internal cooling, bipolar technique, pulsed application or a combination of these mentioned techniques. Tumors up to 5 cm can now be effectively treated, taking inclusion and exclusion criteria into account. Lately published data suggests that RF ablation is far more than an electro-physical tool to generate a thermal tumor destruction, it also induces a significant activation of tumor-specific T lymphocytes.

The addition of contrast-enhanced ultrasound to monitor the extent of interstitial ablation has simplified this procedure. Newer agents such as SonoVue used with microbubble-specific software (CPS) allow continuous real-time scanning at low MIs so that, if residual perfused tumour is found, complete evaluation of the extent of tissue ablation can be carried out immediately after the procedure in the same treatment session. In the initial 18-month period after the introduction of these agents, partial necrosis occurred in 5.1% of treated lesions compared to the previous rate of 16.1%, and this improved to 3.8% in the following 2 years. The method is cost-effective because it reduces the need for repeated treatment sessions under general anaesthesia. The same method is helpful in treatment planning and follow-up.

Metastatic liver disease represents one of the most common clinical problems in oncology practice. Multiple treatment options are available including hepatic resection, chemoembolization, intraarterial and systemic chemotherapy, cryotherapy, and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) (1,2).

In the past 15 years high-frequency B-mode sonography and colour–power Doppler have become the most important and most widely employed imaging modalities for the study of the neck, in particular for thyroid gland, parathyroids and lymph nodes. Sonography allows not only the detection but often also the characterization of the diseases of these organs, distinguishing benign from malignant lesions with high sensitivity and specificity, which could be further improved by the employ of ultrasound contrast agents and harmonic imaging. Although no single sonographic criterion is specific for benign or malignant nature of the lesions, the combination of different signs can be markedly helpful to speed up the diagnostic process. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) remains the most accurate modality for the definitive assessment of thyroid gland nodules and of any doubtful case of nodal disease. In association with clinical findings and serum levels of parathormone, FNAB has specificity close to 100% for the characterization of parathyroid adenomas. A combined approach with sonography and FNAB is generally highly effective.

To describe the results of an ongoing radio-frequency (RF) ablation study in patients with hepatic metastases from colorectal carcinoma.In 117 patients, 179 metachronous colorectal carcinoma hepatic metastases (0.9-9.6 cm in diameter) were treated with RF ablation by using 17-gauge internally cooled electrodes. Computed tomographic follow-up was performed every 4-6 months. Recurrent tumors were retreated when feasible. Time to new metastases and death for each patient and time to local recurrence for individual lesions were modeled with Kaplan-Meier analysis. Modeling determined the effect of number of metastases on the time to new metastases and death and effect of tumor size on local recurrence.Estimated median survival was 36 months (95% CI; 28, 52 months). Estimated 1, 2, and 3-year survival rates were 93%, 69%, and 46%, respectively. Survival was not significantly related to number of metastases treated. In 77 (66%) of 117 patients, new metastases were observed at follow-up. Estimated median time until new metastases was 12 months (95% CI; 10, 18 months). Percentages of patients with no new metastases after initial treatment at 1 and 2 years were 49% and 35%, respectively. Time to new metastases was not significantly related to number of metastases. Seventy (39%) of 179 lesions developed local recurrence after treatment. Of these, 54 were observed by 6 months and 67 by 1 year. No local recurrence was observed after 18 months. Frequency and time to local recurrence were related to lesion size (Por =.001).RF ablation is an effective method to treat hepatic metastases from colorectal carcinoma.