DOI:10.2214/AJR.07.0088
AJR 2007; 188:W579
© American Roentgen Ray Society
Reply
Colin P. Cantwell,
Stephen Eustace and
John O'Byrne
Mater Misericordiae University Hospital Dublin, Ireland
WEBThis is a Web exclusive article.
We thank Dr. Albisinni and colleagues for their letter concerning our
article on radiofrequency ablation of osteoid osteoma with cooled probes and
impedance-control energy delivery
[1]. They describe their
experience in osteoid osteoma with a noncooled radiofrequency probe and
manual-control energy delivery with a variable duration of more than 18
minutes.
The MR signal change reflecting necrosis with their technique was more than
25 mm [2]. This is beyond the
necrosis expected with a low-energy delivery technique. Tillotson et al.
[3] describe no increase in
ablation beyond 13 mm between 30 seconds and 4 minutes of therapy in bone with
a similar electrode.
The short duration of pain after therapy with the described technique
reflects the experience in a series with a 6-minute treatment time and 5-mm
probe length [4]. Pain in our
series after the ablation was worse and persisted longer than with the
low-energy technique for ablation, and this may be due to the larger zone of
ablation.
In the case of the eccentric osteoid osteoma of the T8 pedicle, the nearest
neural structure was 1.5 cm from the active tip. We applied the restriction of
1.5 cm from neural tissue because we were cautious with this technique and
probe. We were reassured that the spinal cord may receive protection from
therapy by the presence of a heat sink provided by cerebrospinal fluid, spinal
venous drainage and the thermal insulation due to thickened cortical bone
associated with osteoid osteoma. More data needs to be collected to determine
the appropriate selection of candidates for therapy of spinal osteoid osteoma
with a high-energy delivery technique.
References
- Cantwell CP, O'Byrne J, Eustace S. Radiofrequency ablation of
osteoid osteoma with cooled probes and impedance-control energy delivery.
AJR 2006;186
[5 suppl]:S244
S248[Abstract/Free Full Text]
- Albisinni U, Ciminari R, Malaguti C, Rimondi E. Radiofrequency
ablation of osteoid osteoma. (letter) AJR2007; 188:W578[Free Full Text]
- Tillotson CL, Rosenberg AE, Rosenthal DI. Controlled thermal injury
of bone: report of a percutaneous technique using radiofrequency electrode and
generator. Invest Radiol 1989;24
: 888892[CrossRef][Medline]
- Barei DP, Moreau G, Scarborough MT, Neel MD. Percutaneous
radiofrequency ablation of osteoid osteoma. Clin
Orthop 2000; 373:115
124[CrossRef][Medline]

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