ECE2020 Audio ePoster Presentations Thyroid (144 abstracts)
1Ospedale Mauriziano Umberto I, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Turin, Italy; 2Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Bellinzona e Lugano, Clinica di Medicina Nucleare e Imaging Molecolare, Centro di Competenza Diagnosi e Terapia delle Malattie Tiroidee, Lugano, Switzerland
Context: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) was proven as effective in reducing thyroid nodules’ volume. However, whether technical procedure aspects could influence the volume reduction rate (VRR) has not been clarified.
Objective: To analyze the correlation of RFA power, duration and energy with VRR.
Design: Prospective study from June 2018 to December 2019.
Setting: Two primary-care centers using the same RFA procedure.
Patients or other participants: Adult outpatients undergoing a single-session RFA and 1-year post-treatment follow-up.
Intervention: RFA was performed by moving-shot technique with internally cooled 18-gauge electrode having a 10-mm active tip. Main outcome measures The VRR was calculated. Technical parameters were the following: median power (P median), effective time of treatment (Teff), energy calculated as Pmedian × Teff (Ecalc), and energy delivered per ml as Kcal × 4184 × nodule’s volume (Edel). Continuous variables were analyzed by the Mann Whitney test. The correlation of the above parameters with VRR was analyzed by linear regression.
Results: Forty-one nodules were included and their VRR 66.6%. RFA was performed with a Pmedian of 55 watts, Teff 10.24 min, Ecalc 31380 Joules, Edel 1473 Joules/mL. Edel was significantly correlated with VRR (P = 0.014) while Pmedian, Teff and Ecalc not. A strong correlation of Edel with VRR was found in nodules <10 ml (P = 0.001) while no significant correlation was observed in nodules >10 ml.
Conclusions: This study showed that the energy delivered with RFA is the only technical parameter significantly correlated with the VRR of thyroid nodules.