SAFETY AND EFFICIENCY OF MICROWAVE ABLATION (MWA) FOR LARGE BENIGN THYROID NODULES

Quang Khanh Huynh1,
1 

Main Article Content

Abstract

Most thyroid nodules are benign and do not require treatment, but large (≥3 cm) benign thyroid nodules usually cause clinical symptoms or cosmetic concerns and therefore require treatment. Traditionally the treatment for benign thyroid nodules consists of surgery and levothyroxine medication, however both have many drawbacks. Minimally invasive surgical alternatives are becoming more attractive for the treatment of thyroid nodules. Beside Radiofrequency ablation (RFA), Microwave ablation (MWA) is a method of thermal ablation to induce thyroid tissue necrosis and has been applied to various benign and malignant tumors with good results.


Objectives: We determine the safety and efficacy of Microwave Ablation procedure to treat large benign thyroid nodules.


Materials and Methods: We report a series of 40 large benign thyroid nodules patients who underwent Microwave Ablation for treatment at Thoracic Surgery Department Cho Ray hospital from Apr-2018 to Sep-2019.


Results: There were 31 females and 9 males, with a median age of 46 years. The medians of largest diameter and volume of the nodules were 40 mm and 22 ml. Four (10%) minor complications were observed. The mean Volume reduction ratio (VRR) was 75.1, 85.2, and 96.4% after 3, 6, and 12 months. The mean symptom and cosmetic scores dropped from 8.0 and 2.8 (before treatment) to 2.8 and 1.3 (at 12 months), respectively. Thirteen nodules (31%) require two MWA sessions.


Conclusions: MWA is safe, effective and can be a good option to treat large benign thyroid nodules. More studies with large dataset and long follow-up are needed to improve its safety and efficacy.

Article Details

References

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