Abstract No. 510 Safety and efficacy of percutaneous cryoablation for small hepatocellular carcinomas adjacent to the heart

Abstract

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of percutaneous cryoablation for small hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) adjacent to the heart. Between September 2013 and March 2018, 189 consecutive patients underwent cryoablation for small HCCs smaller than 3 cm; 70 patients (mean age, 61.3±10.6; range, 40-82 years) with left hepatic tumors were retrospectively analyzed. They were divided into two groups: juxta-cardiac (JC) and non-juxta-cardiac (NJC) tumors (tumor margin ≤ 10 mm and > 10 mm, respectively, from the heart border). The rates of technical success, complete ablation, complications, and local tumor recurrence (LTR) were evaluated. Seventy patients (22 with JC and 48 with NJC tumors) underwent cryoablation for small HCCs in the left lobe. No significant intergroup difference was observed in the mean diameter of the tumor (17.9±5.5 vs 17.5±5.2, p = 0.781) and of the ablation zone (41.3±4.2 vs 43.5±5.8, p = 0.115). Technical success was achieved in all patients. No procedure-related major complications occurred in either group. The median follow-up period was 15 months (range, 3.1-49.6 months). No statistically significant intergroup difference was observed in the rates of complete ablation (90.9% vs 93.8%, p = 0.646) and LTR (20% vs 15.6%, p = 0.725). Cryoablation is a safe treatment modality for patients with JC small HCCs, without an increased risk of cardiac complications compared to HCCs that are NJC and with comparable efficacy.