Percutaneous ethanol sclerotherapy of autonomous thyroid nodules: preliminary results.
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.
Mincheva
L
L
Clinic of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Higher Medical Institute, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Simeonov
S
S
Troev
D
D
Mitkov
M
M
Pavlova
M
M
Iliev
D
D
Botushanov
N
N
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*
D013963:Thyroid Hormones; D000431:Ethanol