Photos of the liver and gallbladder bef ore cryoablation. (A) Cryoprobe insertion. (B) Ice ball formation. Th e white arrows in (A and B) indicate the gallbladder. The black arrow in (A) indicates the cryoprobe.
Photos of the liver and gallbladder before IRE ablation. (A) Electrode placement. (B) Immediately after the probes are pulled out, the gallbladder and liver do not show any significant changes. The white arrows in (A and B) indicate the gallbladder. The black arrows in (A) indicate the IRE probes. The blue arrows in (B) indicate the insertion sites of the two monopolar IRE probes.
Distance between two monopolar IRE probes. The two probes are 1.5 cm apart.
Photos of the liver and gallbladder after cryoablation. The liver as viewed from the (A) gallbladder and (B) diaphragmatic side 7 days after the ablation.
Photos of the liver and gallbladder after IRE ablation. The liver as viewed from the (A) gallbladder and (B) diaphragmatic side 7 days after the ablation.
Table 1
Sizes of liver and gallbladder lesions at 7 days after the ablation (X̅± s)
| Ablation | Major diameter of liver lesions (cm) | Gallbladder lesions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| methods | Gallbladder side (n = 12) | Diaphragm side (n = 12) | P value | Major diameter (cm) | P value |
| Cryo | 1.5 ± 0.4 | 3.8 ± 0.8 | > 0.05 | 1.5 ± 0.4 (n = 8) | > 0.05 |
| IRE | 1.4 ± 0.4 | 4.1 ± 0.7 | > 0.05 | 0.8 ± 0.2 (n = 12) | |
Pathological changes in the cryoablation (Cryo) and IRE ablation zones 7 days after ablation. (A) The top images show the ablated liver and gallbladder areas (magnification, 40×). The bottom images (A to E) show enlarged versions of the areas marked in the top images (magnification, 400×). (B) The top images and (F) show the ablated liver, gallbladder and common bile duct (magnification, 40×). The bottom images (A to D) show the enlarged versions of the areas marked in the top images (magnification, 400×).
Table 2
Changes in aminotransferase and serum bilirubin levels over time (X̅± s)
| Hepatic function | Ablation method | d-1 | d-1 | d-3 | d-5 | d-7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALT (U/L) | RE | 38.35 ± 3.22 | 167.05 ± 19.50 | 214.83 ± 10.37 | 119.60 ± 12.99 | 68.25 ± 10.08 |
| Cryo | 39.20 ± 3.90 | 195.03 ± 9.75** | 289.58 ± 12.81** | 142.35 ± 57.85* | 94.90 ± 9.78* | |
| AST(U/L) | IRE | 34.10 ± 0.86 | 47.64 ± 0.69 | 60.21 ± 2.55 | 46.78 ± 1.71 | 31.05 ± 0.43 |
| Cryo | 35.26 ± 2.45 | 60.11 ± 3.44** | 79.12 ± 2.58** | 52.80 ± 3.41* | 37.41 ± 2.50* | |
| Serum bilirubin (μmol/L) | RE | 8.08 ± 2.19 | 26.01 ± 3.68 | 35.15 ± 5.70 | 29.09 ± 3.27 | 21.41 ± 3.39 |
| Cryo | 7.59 ± 2.01 | 32.72 ± 4.08** | 37.34 ± 6.14* | 35.88 ± 4.28** | 25.86 ± 5.37* |