Purpose: This study was conducted to compare a three-dimensional (3D) fusion image navigation system (FINS) with ultrasound (US) for guiding percutaneous microwave ablation (PMWA) for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Materials and methods: This is a retrospective, non-randomized, comparative study. Our team developed a 3D FINS and used it to guide PMWAs for HCCs in 19 patients (3D group) and compared the results to those of 24 PMWAs guided by US (US group). The complete ablation rate of the first session, the local tumor progression (LTP), intrahepatic recurrence and disease-free survival were compared between the groups.
Results: The 3D FINS was successfully applied in all 19 patients. The mean size of HCCs was 4.14 cm ±0.95 in 3D the group and 4.07 cm ±0.91 in the US group. Major complications were identified at 5.3% in the 3D group and 4.2% in the US group (p = .865). Average time of image fusion was 404.53 ± 161.84 s. There were more antenna insertions in the 3D group (3.68 ± 1.57) than in the US group (2.71 ± 1.12) (p = .02). The complete ablation rate of the first session was higher in the 3D group (94.7%) than in the US group (62.5%) (p = .034). The mean follow-up period was 11.4 months ±4.9 in the 3D group and 9.8 months ±5.5 in the US group. There were no significant differences in technique efficacy rate and LTP rate between the two groups.
Conclusions: The 3D FINS could be a safe, feasible and effective technique for guiding PMWA of HCC, which could help an operator improve the complete ablation rate of the first session.
Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma; fusion image; microwave ablation; three-dimensional image.