• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Effectiveness of High-intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) Therapy of Solid and Complex Benign Thyroid Nodules – A Long-term Follow up Two-center Study
  • Contributor: Fischer, Anne; Korkusuz, Hüdayi; Vorländer, Christian
  • imprint: Georg Thieme Verlag KG, 2022
  • Published in: Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology & Diabetes
  • Language: English
  • DOI: 10.1055/a-1719-4441
  • ISSN: 0947-7349; 1439-3646
  • Keywords: Endocrinology ; General Medicine ; Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism ; Internal Medicine
  • Origination:
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  • Description: <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p> Purpose To investigate the effectiveness of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) of solid and complex benign thyroid nodules.</jats:p><jats:p> Methods Fifty-eight patients with benign thyroid nodules were treated with HIFU at two centers from 2014–2019. The device, EchoPulse (Teraclion, Malakoff, France), heats the nodes to 80–90 °C. Nodal volumes were measured by ultrasound at regular intervals before and up to 12 months after therapy. In a retrospective long-term two-center study, average volume reductions in relation to baseline volume were statistically analyzed by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Side effects were documented.</jats:p><jats:p> Results In solid nodules, the average percent volume reductions at the 3, 6, 9, and 12-months follow-up were 49.98%, 46.40%, 65.77%, and 63.88%, respectively. The results were significant with p&lt;0.05 in the Wilcoxon signed-rank test at the 3, 6, and 9-months follow-up. In complex nodules, the average percent volume reduction was 35.2% at 3 months, 36.89% at 6 months, and 63.64% at twelve months follow up. The results were significant with p&lt;0.05 in the Wilcoxon signed-rank test at the 3- and 6-months follow-up. The complication rate was 5.2%. All complications occurred in patients with solid nodules.</jats:p><jats:p> Conclusion The study showed that HIFU is an effective treatment method for both solid and complex nodules. The complication rate is relatively high at 5.2%. No long-term complications occurred. The solid nodules responded better to HIFU than complex nodules.</jats:p>