Small hepatocellular carcinoma: therapeutic effectiveness of percutaneous radio frequency ablation therapy with a LeVeen needle electrode.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the therapeutic effectiveness of percutaneous radio frequency ablation of small (< or =3-cm) hepatocellular carcinoma with a LeVeen needle electrode. METHODS: Thirty patients (mean age, 65.7 years) with 32 hepatocellular carcinomas (range, 1.2-3.0 cm; mean, 2.3+/-0.5 cm) underwent percutaneous radio frequency ablation to the center of the hepatocellular carcinoma after expansion of the inner needles. The manufacturer's recommended radio frequency ablation protocol was used. Posttreatment contrast-enhanced color Doppler sonography, contrast-enhanced computed tomography, and fine-needle biopsy were performed to assess the radio frequency ablation-induced coagulated necrosis. RESULTS: Severe intratreatment pain made us abort radio frequency ablation in 2 patients. Complete tumor necrosis was achieved in 1 treatment session with 1 needle electrode insertion in 28 (93.4%) of 30 nodules (28 patients). We found no residual focus on both color Doppler sonography and computed tomography after any of the sessions. In follow-ups ranging from 3 to 15 months (mean, 8.4 months), no local recurrence was found in cases with complete tumor ablation. CONCLUSIONS: Radio frequency ablation with the LeVeen needle electrode was effective, obtaining complete coagulated necrosis with a safety margin when used for the treatment of small hepatocellular carcinomas.