Clinical application of CT-guided percutaneous cryoablation for renal neoplasms

Objective To investigate the safety,efficacy and clinical value of CT-guided cryoablation for renal cellular carcinoma(RCC).Methods 27 patients with RCC were treated with CT-guided cryoablation from August 2008 to January 2011,CT scan were performed to monitor the dynamic changes at different stages after the cryosurgery.The treatment response and survival rate were tested to evaluated the efficacy of the surgery.Results All the patients underwent percutaneous conformal cryoablation,the immediate CT scan after cryosurgery showed the lesions of all the patients were completely covered by iceball.CT scan performed at 1 month,3 month,6 month and 1 year after the procedure,the lesions were showed abviously decrease on density,the tumor size decreased,and there was no enhancement.According to the CT scans,23 patients had complete ablation,2 partial ablation,and 2 stable disease.Overall,responding rate(CR+PR)for this group of patients was 92.6%.Renal function in all patients after cryosurgery 3 to 4 days showed no significant differences compared with that of preoperation.After cryotherapy,no serious complications,such as skin cold injury,infection,implantation metastasis inside the puncture path occurred.Fever appeared in 6 patients,and they all recovered after 3 to 5 days.Pain appeared in 8 patients,and all recovered after treatment.Hemorrhage appeared in 2 patients after cryosurgery and recovered after treated with Thrombin.Conclusions CT-guided percutaneous conformal cryoablation is a promising treatment for RCC.