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Updated: Jul 2, 2026
Thermal Ablation for the Treatment of Abdominal Tumors
Published on: March 7, 2011
Safety and efficacy of CT-guided percutaneous cryoablation for renal cell carcinoma
Christos S Georgiades1, Kelvin Hong, Cary Bizzell
1Department of Vascular Interventional Radiology, Johns Hopkins Hospital, 600 North Wolfe Street, Blalock 544, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA. g_christos@hotmail.com
Purpose:
Image-guided percutaneous cryoablation is a treatment alternative for selected patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The objective of the present study was to present the safety and efficacy of percutaneous cryoablation.
Materials And Methods:
The study included 51 lesions in 46 consecutive patients treated with computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous cryoablation. Results were based on 40 RCCs with follow-up. Patients had baseline history and physical and laboratory examinations and renal CT or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and were followed every 3 months. Biopsy of all lesions was performed before or at the time of the procedure. Efficacy was defined as a complete lack of enhancement on follow-up contrast agent-enhanced CT or MR imaging. Lesion size was also followed and correlated with lack of enhancement. Short- and long-term complications were tabulated.
Results:
The technical success rate was 100%, with 20% of cases requiring some form of thermal protection of an adjacent organ. During follow-up (median, 28 weeks; range, 4-81 weeks), the efficacy rate was 100% for lesions smaller than 7 cm. The incidence of significant complications was 18% (8% CTAE), mostly (10%) intercostal or genitofemoral nerve injury. All patients with complications recovered fully, and there were no mortalities. There was no change in creatinine levels, and no patient developed renal failure as a result of cryoablation.
Conclusions:
CT-guided percutaneous cryoablation resulted in complete response for lesions as large as 4 cm. It may also be a viable alternative for nonsurgical candidates with lesions as large as 7 cm. It has a high efficacy rate, and its modest complications are not only comparable to those of other treatment modalities, but also appear to be reversible.
