Percutaneous plasma mediated radiofrequency ablation of spinal osteoid osteomas
- 1School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- 2Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- 3Department of Interventional Neuroradiology and Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Correspondence to Dr S Kathuria, Interventional Neuroradiology, Johns Hopkins Hospital, 600 N Wolfe Street, Nelson Building B-100, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; skathur2{at}jhmi.edu
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Contributors SK performed all three cases, and prepared and finalized the manuscript. DG was consulted for decision making when cases were performed and helped in the manuscript writing. HHD performed research of the literature and writing of the manuscript under the guidance of the two other authors.
- Received 18 April 2011
- Revised 4 June 2011
- Accepted 9 June 2011
- Published Online First 11 July 2011
Abstract
Plasma mediated radiofrequency ablation (pmRFA) may allow for the percutaneous treatment of spinal tumors with a decreased risk of thermal injury to neural structures compared with traditional (radiofrequency or interstitial laser) ablation. However, usage of pmRFA has not been previously reported for a primary bone tumor, including an osteoid osteoma. Three patients with a spinal osteoid osteoma underwent pmRFA. The procedure was performed under computed tomography guidance using the 11 gauge Coblation SpineWand (ArthroCare). One lesion (at T11) was directly abutting the spinal canal. With an average follow-up of 20.7 (range 16–24) months, the mean Visual Analog Scale score for back pain decreased from 8.67 to 0.67 and no patient experienced tumor recurrence. pmRFA of spinal osteoid osteomas is feasible, even when the tumor is abutting the spinal canal. Larger studies with a longer follow-up are needed to further delineate the safety and efficacy of this technique.
Footnotes
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Competing interests None.
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Patient consent Obtained.
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Ethics approval This study was conducted with the approval of the Institutional Review Board.
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Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
