Hepatic cryosurgery: early experience in Hawaii.
Liver cancer, both primary and metastatic, is often deemed hopeless and patients with advanced disease cannot be offered a treatment that is completely effective. Surgical resection is the treatment of choice, but less than 20% of patients are candidates for this treatment. Hepatic cryosurgery is a relatively new procedure in which the tumor is localized intraoperatively with ultrasound guidance and exposed to liquid nitrogen at -196 degrees C. Nine cases have been performed in Hawaii, and we present the first four cases here. Of these cases, there were no mortalities and only one patient required blood transfusion. All patients currently are alive with up to 11-month follow-up. Long-term studies will be necessary to assess the effectiveness of this modality.
Wong
L L
LL
Limm
W M
WM
Cheung
A H
AH
Fan
F L
FL
Wong
L M
LM
D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D003452:Cryosurgery / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D005706:Gallbladder Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D006254:Hawaii; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology