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Early assessment of coagulation necrosis after hepatic microwave ablation: a comparison of non-enhanced and enhanced T1-weighted images

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Abstract

Purpose

To compare the technical success and accuracy of hepatic microwave ablation (MWA) using non-enhanced and enhanced T1-weighted imaging early after ablation. Patients were evaluated with regard to the ablation zone and local tumor progression (LTP).

Methods

This retrospective study conducted between September 2014 and December 2015 which consisted of 56 patients with 56 hepatic malignant lesions who underwent percutaneous MWA. Non-enhanced and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imagings were performed within 2 days after tumor ablation. The efficacy of ablation assessed according to the hyperintense middle zone on non-enhanced T1-weighted images and the non-enhanced area on contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images were compared. The development of LTP during ≥7 months of follow-up served as the end point.

Results

On the non-enhanced T1-weighted images, the ablated region had a characteristic two-zone structure featuring a hyperintense middle zone and a surrounding hypointense band. Among the 56 patients, LTP developed in ten including seven lesions, in which both the non-enhanced T1-weighted and portal-phase images showed incomplete tumor ablation. In two of the remaining three patients, incomplete tumor ablation was detected on the non-enhanced T1-weighted images, whereas the corresponding portal-phase images showed complete ablation. In the remaining patient, no residual tumor was detected on either the non-enhanced T1-weighted or the portal-phase images. In the 46 patients without LTP, there was no evidence of residual tumor on the non-enhanced T1-weighted or portal-phase images obtained early after ablation.

Conclusions

Non-enhanced T1-weighted images are useful in assessing the therapeutic efficacy of MWA of liver tumors early after the procedure.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Gulou district, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, China

    Zhen-Yu Jia, Qi-Feng Chen, Zheng-Qiang Yang, Wen-Tao Wu, Hai-Bin Shi & Sheng Liu

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  1. Zhen-Yu Jia
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  2. Qi-Feng Chen
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  3. Zheng-Qiang Yang
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  4. Wen-Tao Wu
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  5. Hai-Bin Shi
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Correspondence to Zheng-Qiang Yang.

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No funding was received for this study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Statement of informed consent was not applicable since the manuscript does not contain any patient data.

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Jia, ZY., Chen, QF., Yang, ZQ. et al. Early assessment of coagulation necrosis after hepatic microwave ablation: a comparison of non-enhanced and enhanced T1-weighted images. Abdom Radiol 42, 1781–1787 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-017-1064-0

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