Radiofrequency ablation: other abdominal organs

Abstract

Primary adrenal malignancy is uncommon and usually presents at an advanced stage. With the exception of pheochromocytoma, adrenal cancers rarely secrete hormones. Advanced adrenal tumors often invade several anatomic compartments, and even radical surgery is usually palliative. For tumors confined to the adrenal gland, laparoscopic surgery provides a minimally invasive approach. A 5-year survival rate of 40% has been reported after complete surgical resection of primary adrenocortical carcinoma, with a 70% 5-year rate survival for stages I and II [1–4]. There are only a few reports of RF ablation of pheochromocytomas being performed under aand bblockade. It is difficult to identify any clinical grounds for radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of primary adrenal cancer except unfitness for surgery [5]. Adrenal metastases are common and usually indicate widespread systemic disease; however, in non–small cell lung cancer and colorectal cancer isolated adrenal metastases that merit treatment can occur. The surgical literature contains many studies that have indicated reasonable outcomes after resection of selected adrenal metastases. However, laparoscopic adrenal resection is time consuming and costly, and the ideal case for the laparoscopic approach could also be easily ablated with RFA [6–9]. RFA of the adrenal gland