We thank Dr Senthi and colleagues for their interest in our CHEST article. 1 We agree that the work by Haasbeek et al 2 should have been cited in our article. Although the median follow-up of 16.5 months is rather short, the results are impressive with no local failures and only two of 15  grade 3 lung-associated toxicities. We agree that stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) is a less invasive proc...

Introduction Cryosurgical ablation of the prostate using an open, perineal incision was started by Flocks and associates at the University of Iowa in 1969. In this procedure, the posterior surface of the prostate, seminal vesicles and bladder base were exposed through a perineal incision. A cryoprobe was then inserted first into the prostate and/or adjacent tissues. The technique was monitored ...

Assess computed tomography (CT) imaging characteristics after percutaneous cryotherapy for lung cancer.A retrospective IRB-approved analysis of 40 patients who underwent nonsurgical treatment for primary stage 1 lung cancer performed from January 2007 to March 2011 was included in this study. All procedures were performed using general anesthesia and CT guidance. Follow-up imaging with CT of th...

AIMS To establish a temporal safety window for cryoablation at minimal temperatures and to assess the electrophysiological and histological changes as a function of the application duration. METHODS AND RESULTS Twenty mini-pigs underwent AV nodal cryoablation at -80 degrees C without prior cryomapping. The duration of the cryoapplication following atrioventricular block (AVB) was randomized t...

BACKGROUND Renal angiomyolipomas (AMLs) are frequent in tuberous sclerosis and are responsible for a significant proportion of the morbidity in adulthood, mainly from bleeding complications, which are correlated to the size of the AMLs. We describe the case of a 19-year-old female with multiple bilateral renal angiomyolipomas. CASE PRESENTATION The renal AMLs measured up to 6 cm in size. She ...

BACKGROUND Most literature for cryoablation of atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia (AVNRT) is based on -30 degree celsius cryomapping with 4 & 6 mm distal electrode catheters. The cryomapping mode is not available on the 6 mm cryocatheter in the United States. We describe a technique for 'pseudo' mapping at -80° using a 6 mm cryocatheter and report on short and long term outcomes. METH...

PURPOSE To evaluate the efficacy and safety of ultrasound (US)-guided percutaneous argon-helium cryoablation for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and determine appropriate indications. METHODS We reviewed outcomes of 300 HCC patients who underwent US-guided percutaneous cryoablation. RESULTS Overall, 223 tumors (mean diameter 7.2 ± 2.8 cm) in 165 patients were incompletely ablated, while 185 ...

The efficacy of cryosurgery alone was evaluated in 15 patients with refractory monomorphic sustained ventricular tachycardias related to inferior wall infarction. Patients were 64 +/- 9 (SD) years old and had a mean left ventricular ejection fraction of 39.2 +/- 11.2%. Thirty different tachycardias were mapped with the origin localized to the septum or inferior wall in 20 (67%), near the mitral...

PURPOSE To estimate effective dose during CT-guided cryoablation of liver tumors, and to assess which procedural factors contribute most to dose. MATERIALS AND METHODS Our institutional review board approved this retrospective, HIPAA-compliant study. A total of 20 CT-guided percutaneous liver tumor cryoablation procedures were performed in 18 patients. Effective dose was determined by multipl...

This study evaluated the mid-term results of the modified maze procedure using cryoablation for treating atrial fibrillation associated with rheumatic mitral valve disease. Between March 2000 and February 2004, 177 consecutive patients underwent the modified maze procedure using cryoablation concomitant with mitral valve surgery, were divided into the modified Cox-Maze III (group CM, n=88), mod...