Abstract
Background The aim of this research is to investigate the feasibility of percutaneous ultrasound-guided microwave ablation (MWA) for benign solid thyroid nodules. Methods Ultrasound-guided percutaneous microwave ablation was performed for 90 benign solid thyroid nodules in 75 patients. The volume changes of the nodules were evaluated before and after microwave ablation, and the cosmetic grading and clinical symptoms were assessed as well. Results The volume of all the 90 benign thyroid nodules obviously decreased after microwave ablation at 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow-ups (p < 0.01), while that of the control group increased at the follow-up of 12 months (p < 0.01). The volume reduction rate (VRR) at 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow-ups was 55.98%, 69.31%, 76.65%, and 84.67% in the MWA group, respectively. The cosmetic problems and clinical symptoms were also improved in the MWA group. All the patients are well tolerated to the procedure. Hoarseness occurred in 2 cases (2.7%) and Horner syndrome in 1 case (1.3%), and 1 patient (1.3%) developed slight burn on cervical skin. Conclusions Ultrasound-guided percutaneous microwave ablation is a practical method for treating benign solid thyroid nodules, and the complications were acceptable. The trial is registered with clinicaltrials.gov with the registration number NCT03057925.
Highlights
Thyroid nodules (TNs) are a common clinical disease, discovered by palpation in 3 to 7% and by ultrasound in about 50% of the general population [1]
The microwave ablation (MWA) group consists of 64 females and 11 males, while the control group consists of 29 females and 11 males
The mean thyroid nodular volume of the MWA group decreased from 6.61 ± 4.65 ml to 0.87 ± 0.99 ml (p < 0 001) at 1-year follow-up visit
Summary
Thyroid nodules (TNs) are a common clinical disease, discovered by palpation in 3 to 7% and by ultrasound in about 50% of the general population [1]. The last decades have witnessed the development of several nonsurgical, image-guided, minimally invasive approaches for treatment of TNs. The applications of thermal ablation to treat thyroid benign nodules showed obvious advantages [5,6,7,8,9,10]. The aim of this research is to investigate the feasibility of percutaneous ultrasound-guided microwave ablation (MWA) for benign solid thyroid nodules. Ultrasound-guided percutaneous microwave ablation was performed for 90 benign solid thyroid nodules in 75 patients. The volume of all the 90 benign thyroid nodules obviously decreased after microwave ablation at 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow-ups (p < 0 01), while that of the control group increased at the follow-up of 12 months (p < 0 01). Ultrasound-guided percutaneous microwave ablation is a practical method for treating benign solid thyroid nodules, and the complications were acceptable. The trial is registered with clinicaltrials.gov with the registration number NCT03057925
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