Background: High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is an emerging thermal ablation technique that has been successfully applied to various benign thyroid nodules.
Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of HIFU for the treatment of benign thyroid nodules.
Material and methods: The Ovid-MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched up to 9 July 2018 for studies describing the use of HIFU to treat benign thyroid nodules. We included studies that have outcomes with sufficient detail to evaluate the volume reduction rate (VRR). The pooled proportions of VRR ≥50% and pooled VRR at one, three, and six months after HIFU were assessed using random-effects modeling. Heterogeneity among studies was determined using Chi-square statistics for pooled estimates and the inconsistency index I2.
Results: Seven studies were included in the systematic review and four in the meta-analysis. The pooled VRR at one, three, and six months after HIFU were 17.59 (95% confidence interval [CI] 12.56-22.62), 48.93 (95% CI 42.20-55.66), and 60.43 (95% CI 51.88-68.98). The pooled proportions of VRR ≥50% at six months after HIFU were 75% (95% CI 53-89; I2=73.6%). There were no major complications of HIFU.
Conclusion: HIFU may be a safe and effective treatment modality for benign thyroid nodules, especially for small nodules.
Keywords: High-intensity focused ultrasound ablation; meta-analysis; thyroid nodule; treatment outcome.