Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation of hepatocellular adenoma: Initial experience in 10 patients

Abstract

Background and Aim: The purpose of this study was to assess the therapeutic efficacy and safety of percutaneous radiofrequency (RF) ablation for hepatocellular adenoma. Methods: We performed percutaneous RF ablation in 10 patients with pathologically proven hepatocellular adenomas. Eight patients were asymptomatic and two patients had a recurrent tumor after surgical resection. The size of the tumors was 2.25 ± 0.76 cm (range: 1.5–4.5 cm) in the largest diameter. All ablation procedures were percutaneously performed with an internally cooled RF electrode system under ultrasound (US) guidance. We evaluated the therapeutic efficacy and safety of the procedure by clinical follow‐up data with regular follow‐up computed tomography (CT) for 2–35 months (mean, 17.5 months). Results: All patients well tolerated percutaneous RF ablation procedure without any incident. Contrast‐enhanced CT (n = 7) or contrast‐enhanced US (n = 3) obtained immediately (<24 h) after the procedure revealed complete ablation of the tumor in all cases. There was no case of local tumor progression or new recurrence during the follow‐up period. We found neither procedure‐related mortality nor major complication requiring specific treatment. Conclusion: Percutaneous RF ablation of hepatocellular adenoma without overt complication can be a new potential alternative to close imaging follow‐up or elective surgery.