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. 2014 Sep;25(9):1449-55.
doi: 10.1016/j.jvir.2014.04.023. Epub 2014 Jun 3.

Percutaneous cryoablation of hepatic tumors adjacent to the gallbladder: assessment of safety and effectiveness

Alexandra H Fairchild  1 , Servet Tatli  2 , Ruth M Dunne  2 , Paul B Shyn  2 , Kemal Tuncali  2 , Stuart G Silverman  2
Affiliations

Percutaneous cryoablation of hepatic tumors adjacent to the gallbladder: assessment of safety and effectiveness

Alexandra H Fairchild et al. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2014 Sep.

Abstract

Purpose: To assess safety and effectiveness of percutaneous image-guided cryoablation of hepatic tumors adjacent to the gallbladder.

Materials and methods: Twenty-one cryoablation procedures were performed to treat 19 hepatic tumors (mean size, 2.7 cm; range, 1.0-5.0 cm) adjacent to the gallbladder in 17 patients (11 male; mean age, 59.2 y; range, 40-82 y) under computed tomography (n = 15) or magnetic resonance imaging (n = 6) guidance in a retrospective study. All tumors (mean size, 2.67 cm; range, 1.0-5.0 cm) were within 1 cm (mean, 0.4 cm) of the gallbladder; seven (33%) were contiguous with the gallbladder. Primary outcomes included complication rate and severity and postprocedure gallbladder imaging findings. Secondary outcomes included technical success and technique effectiveness at 6 months.

Results: Complications occurred in six of 21 procedures (29%); one (5%) was severe. Ice balls extended into the gallbladder lumen in 20 of 21 procedures (95%); no gallbladder-related complications occurred. The most common gallbladder imaging finding was mild, asymptomatic focal wall thickening after nine of 21 procedures (42%), which resolved on follow-up. Technical success was achieved in 19 of 21 sessions (90%). Six-month follow-up was available for 16 tumors; of these, all but two (87%) had no imaging evidence of local tumor progression.

Conclusions: Percutaneous cryoablation of hepatic tumors adjacent to the gallbladder can be performed safely and successfully. Although postprocedural gallbladder changes are common, they are self-limited and clinically inconsequential, even when the ice ball extends into the gallbladder lumen.

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