Abstract
To assess the practical feasibility and effectiveness of real-time magnetic resonance (MR) temperature monitoring for the radiofrequency (RF) ablation of liver tumours in a clinical setting, nine patients (aged 49–87 years, five men and four women) with one malignant tumour (14–50 mm, eight hepatocellular carcinomas and one colorectal metastasis), were treated by 12-min RF ablation using a 1.5-T closed magnet for real-time temperature monitoring. The clinical monopolar RF device was filtered at 64 MHz to avoid electromagnetic interference. Real-time computation of thermal-dose (TD) maps, based on Sapareto and Dewey’s equation, was studied to determine its ability to provide a clear end-point of the RF procedure. Absence of local recurrence on follow-up MR images obtained 45 days after the RF ablation was used to assess the apoptotic and necrotic prediction obtained by real-time TD maps. Seven out of nine tumours were completely ablated according to the real-time TD maps. Compared with 45-day follow-up MR images, TD maps accurately predicted two primary treatment failures, but were not relevant in the later progression of one case of secondary local tumour. The real-time TD concept is a feasible and promising monitoring method for the RF ablation of liver tumours.
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Authors would like to acknowledge grant supports provided by the Conseil Régional d’Aquitaine and The Ligne Nationale Contre le Cancer.
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Lepetit-Coiffé, M., Laumonier, H., Seror, O. et al. Real-time monitoring of radiofrequency ablation of liver tumors using thermal-dose calculation by MR temperature imaging: initial results in nine patients, including follow-up. Eur Radiol 20, 193–201 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-009-1532-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-009-1532-1