Small hepatocellular carcinoma: therapeutic effectiveness of percutaneous radio frequency ablation therapy with a LeVeen needle electrode.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the therapeutic effectiveness of percutaneous radio frequency ablation of small (< or =3-cm) hepatocellular carcinoma with a LeVeen needle electrode.

METHODS

Thirty patients (mean age, 65.7 years) with 32 hepatocellular carcinomas (range, 1.2-3.0 cm; mean, 2.3+/-0.5 cm) underwent percutaneous radio frequency ablation to the center of the hepatocellular carcinoma after expansion of the inner needles. The manufacturer's recommended radio frequency ablation protocol was used. Posttreatment contrast-enhanced color Doppler sonography, contrast-enhanced computed tomography, and fine-needle biopsy were performed to assess the radio frequency ablation-induced coagulated necrosis.

RESULTS

Severe intratreatment pain made us abort radio frequency ablation in 2 patients. Complete tumor necrosis was achieved in 1 treatment session with 1 needle electrode insertion in 28 (93.4%) of 30 nodules (28 patients). We found no residual focus on both color Doppler sonography and computed tomography after any of the sessions. In follow-ups ranging from 3 to 15 months (mean, 8.4 months), no local recurrence was found in cases with complete tumor ablation.

CONCLUSIONS

Radio frequency ablation with the LeVeen needle electrode was effective, obtaining complete coagulated necrosis with a safety margin when used for the treatment of small hepatocellular carcinomas.