title: Percutaneous ethanol sclerotherapy of autonomous thyroid nodules: preliminary results.
abstract: Percutaneous ethanol sclerotherapy was applied to 20 patients (17 women and 3 men, aged 30 to 77 yrs) with autonomous thyroid nodules. The patients either were contraindicated because of hazardous concomitant diseases or refused surgical or 131I treatment. Ethanol (95 alc%) was injected in 4 to 6 sessions at a mean dose of 0.63 ml/cc nodular tissue. Physical examination, T3, T4 and TSH assays, thyroid scintigraphy, sonography, and fine needle aspiration biopsy were used to evaluate the treatment results within a 12-month follow-up. Two months after ethanol injection all patients showed an improvement; in six patients the symptoms recurred in the 6th month. Two of them underwent a second cycle of ethanol injection. 12 months later an euthyroid state was maintained in 16 (80%) patients, while 4 (20%) did not respond to the treatment. The treatment results were markedly determined by the nodule size as no effect was achieved in nodules larger than 15-20 ml in volume. This method appears to be an appropriate and harmless alternative to the surgical and 131I treatment of autonomous thyroid nodules less than 15-20 ml in volume, especially in patients with grave concomitant diseases.
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Higher Medical Institute, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mincheva
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Simeonov
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Troev
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mitkov
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pavlova
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Iliev
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Botushanov
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015552:Injections, Intralesional; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015911:Sclerotherapy; D013963:Thyroid Hormones / Q000097:blood; D016606:Thyroid Nodule / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D013963:Thyroid Hormones; D000431:Ethanol