Contrast harmonic sonography guided radiofrequency ablation therapy versus B-mode sonography in hepatocellular carcinoma: Prospective randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of contrast harmonic sonographic guidance in radiofrequency ablation of locally progressive hepatocellular carcinoma poorly depicted with B-mode sonography. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. A series of 40 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma with local tumor progression poorly depicted with B-mode sonography were randomly treated with radiofrequency ablation guided by either contrast harmonic sonography ( n = 20) or conventional B-mode sonography ( n = 20). Unpaired Student's t tests were performed to compare numbers of treatment sessions. RESULTS. Treatment analysis showed that the complete ablation rate after a single treatment session was significantly higher in the contrast harmonic sonography group than in the B-mode sonography group (94.7% vs 65.0%; p = 0.043) and that the number of treatment sessions was significantly lower in the contrast harmonic sonography group ( mean, 1.1 +/- 0.2 vs 1.4 +/- 0.6; p = 0.037). CONCLUSION. Contrast harmonic sonography - guided radiofrequency ablation is an efficient technique for guiding further ablation of local tumor progression not clearly demarcated with B-mode sonography.