Clinical, Morphological Justification and First Experience in the Use of Radiofrequency as Well as Microwave Ablation Treatment Methods of Liver Echinococcosis

BACKGROUND: The current study considers a new direction of surgical treatment of liver echinococcosis - the use of minimally invasive treatment methods of parasitic cysts. METHODS: After clinical and morphological substantiation of the very possibility of carrying out such procedures, 9 microwave ablations (MWA) and 3 radiofrequency ablations (RFA) of cysts were performed in patients with liver echinococcosis from 2017 to 2021 in the surgical clinic of Botkin Hospital, Moscow, Russia. A comparative analysis of treatment results of patients with echinococcal liver cysts (12 patients who underwent “percutaneous puncture, aspiration, injection and reaspiration” (PAIR) procedure and 12 patients – MWA and RFA) was carried out. RESULTS: The number of complications according to Clavien-Dindo classification was as follows: 8 after PAIR procedure, 3 after RFA and 3 after MWA. The median hospital length of stay (LOS) after PAIR procedure was 6.46 days versus 4.7 and 4 in the groups of patients who underwent RF and MW ablation, respectively. The frequency of relapses within the first year after PAIR procedure was 25%. The patients who underwent ablation procedures had no relapses of liver echinococcosis during observation. CONCLUSION: The presented clinical and morphological substantiation and the experience of using various types of ablation techniques on echinococcal cysts, as well as a comparative analysis with a commonly used PAIR treatment method, demonstrated the safety of RFA and MWA for the patient and efficacy in relation to the hydatid process.