Radiofrequency Ablation With Gradual Radiofrequency Energy Increment for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment

Radiofrequency Ablation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Using Gradual Radiofrequency (RF) Energy Delivery Mode With Octopus Electrodes: A Prospective Observational Study

To evaluate local tumor progression rate at 12 months after percutaneous radiofrequency ablation with gradual radiofrequency energy delivery mode with Octopus electrodes in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Child-Pugh Class A or B
• chronic hepatitis B or liver cirrhosis
• contrast enhanced computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) within 60 days of scheduled radiofrequency ablation (RFA) date
• clinically diagnosed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), equal or less than 4 cm

Exclusion Criteria:

• number of HCC, equal or more than 3
• largest tumor size over 4 cm
• Child-Pugh class C
• presence of vascular invasion by HCC
• platelet count less than 40,000 per mm3 or International Normalized Ratio (INR) prolongation over 50%
• presence of extrahepatic metastasis