A single LAT treatment of solid nodules results in significant and persistent volume reduction and local symptom improvement, in the absence of thyroid function changes.

LTA may be a therapeutic tool for highly selected problems in the treatment of thyroid lesions.

Real practice confirmed LAT as a clinically effective, reproducible, and rapid outpatient procedure. Treatments were well tolerated and risk of major complications was very low.

ILP induces well-defined tissue ablation correlated with energy parameters in thyroid glands devoid of cystic areas. ILP could be a therapeutic tool for highly selected problems in thyroid tumor treatment.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety, local effectiveness, and long-term results of laser\ud thermal ablation (LTA) in the treatment of small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).\ud MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety-two biopsies proved small HCCs (range,\ud 0.8–4.0 cm) in 74 patients who were treated percutaneously with LTA in an\ud outpatient clinic. A laser at a power of 5.0Wwas coupled with one to four fibers that\ud were advanced through 21-gauge needle(s) for 6–12 minutes. All lesions were\ud evaluated with computed tomography (CT) for changes in size and vascular pattern,\ud recurrence rates, and cumulative survival rates. Patients were examined for complications.\ud RESULTS: No major complications occurred in 117 LTA sessions, with an average of\ud 1.3 sessions per tumor. At 3 months, CT scans showed a nonenhancing area\ud (complete necrosis) in 89 (97%) of 92 lesions. During follow-up (range, 6–66\ud months; mean, 25.3 months), 84 tumors (91%) decreased in size. The local recurrence\ud rates (range, 1–5 years) ranged from 1.6% to 6.0%. Recurrence rates (range,\ud 12–60 months) in other liver segments ranged from 24% to 73%. Cancer-free\ud survival rates (range, 1–4 years) ranged from 73% to 24%. Overall survival rates\ud were 99%, 68%, and 15% at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively. Twenty-one patients\ud (28%) died.\ud CONCLUSION: LTA is a safe and effective treatment for small HCC