양성 갑상선 낭성 결절에서 에탄올 경화 요법의 결과

Objectives: Ethanol injection under ultrasound guidance has been proposed as an alternative to surgery in the treatment of benign thyroid cysts. So we evaluated efficacy and safety of ultrasonography guided ethanol sclerotherapy for cystic thyroid nodules with analyzing results retrospectively. Methods: Between May 2010 and Jun 2012, 18 cystic thyroid nodule patients (19 cysts) were treated with ethanol ablation. We evaluated the treatment outcomes with the change of volume reduction and the improvement of symptomatic and cosmetic complains and complications. Results: Initial mean cystic nodule volume was 8.5 mL (range, 0.4-31 mL) and mean volume after ablation 1 week was 5.7 mL (range, 0.02-21 mL) in ultrasonography (p=0.154). Each of the mean volume at 1 month and 6 months after treatment was 2.9 mL (0-13 mL, p=0.002) and 0.8 mL (0-5.9 mL, p=0.000). The mean volume reduction rate was 90% (50-100%). Mean symptoms and cosmetic grading scores improved from 5 to 1.7 and from 3.5 to 1.5 (p=0.000). No significant complications were observed during the follow up. Conclusions: Percutaneous ethanol injection may prove a safe and effective tool for the therapy of the benign thyroid cysts. (J Clinical Otolaryngol 2015;26:53-57)