Abstract
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and microwave ablation (MWA) for treating cervical lymph node metastasis (CLNM) from papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Medline, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were searched for studies on the efficacy and safety of thermal ablations for treating CLNM from PTC until July 2024. Among 544 papers, 11 articles were reviewed involving 233 patients and 432 CLNM cases. Random- or fixed-effects models assessed pooled proportions of volume reduction rate (VRR), complete disappearance, recurrence, major and minor or other complications. Similarly, pooled estimates of changes in the largest diameter, volume, and serum thyroglobulin (Tg) were evaluated post-ablation. Subgroup analysis by treatment modality was performed. Study heterogeneity was analyzed using Q statistics and inconsistency index (I2). The quality of the studies was assessed using the MINORS scale. Eleven studies with 233 patients and 432 CLNM were analyzed. The pooled VRR was 95.24% [95% Confidence Interval (CI): 91.97- 98.51%], complete disappearance was 63.1%, and recurrence was 1.6%. Changes in largest diameter, volume, and serum Tg were 8.36mm (95%CI: 6.46-10.26mm), 216.09mm³, and 6.12ng/ml, respectively. Major complications occurred at 3.0%, while minor complications were 25.6%. Significant heterogeneity was found for diameter, volume, VRR, Tg, and minor complications. Subgroup analysis showed that MWA had a higher VRR (97.18%) than RFA (93.84%) (P < 0.001). Both RFA and MWA were effective and safe for treating CLNM from PTC. However, RFA showed lower volume reduction than MWA with significant heterogeneity in VRR. The original contributions revealed in the study are included in the article/Supplemental Material. Further inquiries can be made to the corresponding author.
Published Version
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