title: Thyroid nodule morphology affects the efficacy of ultrasound-guided interstitial laser ablation: a nested case-control study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The literature reports a wide range of percentages of ablation in the treatment of thyroid nodules. The aim of this nested case-control study was to evaluate whether the different morphological (well-defined vs. agglomerate) characteristics of nodules affect the success rate.
  
  
  METHODS
  We selected 20 patients with a single and /or dominant well-defined nodule (group 1) and 20 with a nodular formation resulting from the fusion of multiple nodules (group 2). All the nodules were treated by the laser method receiving the same energy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At 6 months, patients in group 1 showed a greater decrease in volume than those in group 2. These differences were more evident after 12 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study demonstrates that the efficacy of laser treatment can be predicted by nodule morphology and contributes to explaining the wide differences in the percentages of ablation reported in literature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Internal Medicine and Metabolic and Endocrine Diseases, University of Perugia , Perugia .
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gambelunghe
authors.forename: Vittorio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bini
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stefanetti
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Colella
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monacelli
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Avenia
authors.forename: Pierpaolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Feo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016606:Thyroid Nodule / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography
keywords: Laser ablation; photocoagulation; thyroid nodules