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Heat to remove kidney tumors

2003/01/29 Carton Virto, Eider - Elhuyar Zientzia

Radio wave ablation is a very useful technique for removing some kidney tumors. To remove the tumor, a very thin conductive needle is inserted inside and burned with heat. The technique is long ago used to treat cardiac arrhythmias and a type of benign bone tumor. It has also been used in various places to remove renal tumors, but it is still quite esperimetal.

One of these places is the Massachusetts hospital. There they followed 34 patients who were removed by radio waves for three and a half years and realized the good results in February of the magazine Radiology.

Patients had tumors of one to nine centimeters, 42 in total, which were removed by radio waves. Doctors managed to destroy all skin tumors of the kidneys, regardless of their size, but they had more work in destroying the inmates. In half of these cases complementary treatments were needed. However, they are very satisfied with the results, since not even a patient has regenerated the tumor and have had very few complications.

Keep in mind that this technique has been tested with patients who cannot be intervened, as kidney tumors are usually cured by surgical intervention. Some of them had only one kidney and others did not work properly, but those in the latter group did not need dialysis after ablation.

In view of success, more sessions have been held at the Massachusetts hospital with 30 other patients, with results as satisfactory as the previous ones. Radio wave ablation is not as invasive as the operation, so if research continues along the same path, no intervention may be needed in the future.

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