Comparison of Laparoscopic Microwave to Radiofrequency Ablation of Small Hepatocellular Carcinoma (≤3 cm).

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic thermal ablation is a common alternative to surgical resection in treating hepatic tumors, particularly in those located in difficult-to-reach locations. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the safety and long-term efficacy of laparoscopic radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and microwave ablation (MWA) in treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHOD: From February 2009 to May 2015, data from patients with HCC nodules who had undergone either laparoscopic MWA or laparoscopic RFA were examined. Complications, complete ablation rates, local tumor progression (LTP) rates, and disease-free and cumulative survival rates were compared between the two treatment groups. RESULTS: A total of 154 patients with HCC (60 MWA and 94 RFA) were treated via the laparoscopic approach. Major complication rates were identified as 1 and 2 % in the RFA and MWA groups, respectively (p = 0.747). Complete ablation rates were 95 % for both treatment groups (p = 0.931), and LTP rates were 21.2 % for RFA and 8.3 % for MWA (p = 0.034). Disease-free survival rates at 5 years were 19 % in the RFA group and 12 % in the MWA group (p = 0.434), while cumulative survival rates at 5 years were 50 % in the RFA group and 37 % in the MWA group (p = 0.185). CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic RFA and MWA appear to be safe in the treatment of early-stage HCC. The LTP rates were lower in the laparoscopic MWA group compared with the laparoscopic RFA group, but their respective overall and disease-free survival rates remained similar.

Recall strategies for patients found to have a nodule in cirrhosis: is there still a role for CEUS?

Development of liver tumors and their evolution to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a multi-step process in which different HCC-etiologies induce continuous rounds of hepatocyte damage and regeneration. Over an extended time, this triggers cirrhosis which is a pathological state of the liver in which lesions can progress to become dysplastic nodules. Later, these nodules may evolve into HCC and occasionally generate metastatic events. To provide optimal care, patients with liver cancer should be managed using a multidisciplinary approach in specialized centers in which all the diagnostic and therapeutic resources are available. Among the different imaging modalities the introduction on contrast agents for ultrasound use has opened new further applications in different clinical settings. In fact, contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has been applied for more than ten years and plays increasingly important roles in the management of HCC. Since early 2000, international societies including the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), the Asian Pacific association for the Study of the Liver (APASL), the Japanese society of Hepatology (JSH), the Italian society for the study of the liver (AISF), the World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (WFUMB), and the European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (EFUSMB) have discussed the important role of CEUS in the diagnosis of HCC. In the present review an update of the literature and a detailed discussion of the present Guidelines regarding the role of CEUS in the evaluation of nodules in cirrhotic patients is offered.