Assessing the value of volume navigation during ultrasound-guided radiofrequency- and microwave-ablations of liver lesions

PURPOSE: The goal of our study was to determine the influence of ultrasound (US)-coupled volume navigation on the use of computed tomography (CT) during minimally-invasive radiofrequency and microwave ablation procedures of liver lesions. METHOD: VNav or CT-guidance. The number, size and location of the lesions targeted using the different approaches were documented. RESULTS: VNav (9.1 ± 4.6 mm) was significantly smaller from those targeted using US-guidance only (20.4 ± 9.4 mm; p < 0.001). The location of the lesions did not influence the selection of the modality used to guide the ablation. CONCLUSIONS: VNav supported the ablation of lesions smaller than those that could be ablated with US only and doubled the application of minimally-invasive US-guided ablations.