Endocrine Abstracts

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical outcomes of percutaneous MWA in treating BTNs under US guidance with a prospective multicenter study.

Materials and methods: From January of 2013 to December of 2015, the total number of 603 patients with 664 benign thyroid nodules (BTNs) at four participating institutions in China was enrolled in the multicenter study. Before ablation, the mean maximal diameter and the mean volume of the target nodules were 2.92±0.93 cm (ranged from 2.0 to 6.3 cm) and 7.72±9.16 ml (ranged from 0.38 to 70.16 ml), respectively. The clinical outcomes of safety and efficacy were evaluated and analyzed by SPSS 22.0 during follow-up period.

Results: For evaluation of efficacy, compared to those in baseline, the mean maximal diameter and the mean volume of the ablated BTNs significantly decreased with the volume reduction ratio (VRR) of 64.4±43.5%, 78.4±48.2%, 82.5±49.7%, and 81.1±70.4% at 3, 6, 12 months and last follow-up, respectively. The vascular, symptomatic and cosmetic scores related the target nodules statistically improved after ablation. For evaluation of safety, the major complications included cervical nerve injuries in 16 patients (injuries of recurrent laryngeal nerve in 15 and sympathetic nerve in one) and nodular ruptures in four patients. The incidences of minor complications and side effects were 5.8% (35/603) and 4.6% (28/603), respectively.

Conclusion: To draw the conclusion of the prospective multicenter study, US-guided percutaneous MWA is a safe and effective method for the treatment of BTNs in selected patients.