Multibipolar radiofrequency vs single needle microwave ablation for the treatment of newly diagnosed hepatocellular carcinoma

Figure 1 Flow-chart of patient selection. MWA: Microwave ablation; Mbp-RFA: Multibipolar radiofrequency ablation; AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein.

Figure 2 Representative depictions of ablation margins and local tumor progression after thermoablation on magnetic resonance imaging. A: A portal phase magnetic resonance imaging performed one month post multibipolar radiofrequency ablation showing optimal (> 5 mm) ablation margins between the original lesion (arrowheads) and the ablation zone (arrows); B: An arterial phase magnetic resonance imaging showing the appearance of a local tumor progression (arrow) after microwave ablation occurring between the ablation zone (arrowhead) and the inferior vena cava (blue arrowhead).

Figure 3 Comparison of local recurrence free probability and overall survival between microwave ablation and multibipolar radiofrequency. A: Red line represents cumulative local progression-free survival for microwave ablation; black line represents cumulative local progression-free survival for multibipolar radiofrequency ablation. Levels of significance: P < 0.001 (inverse probability of treatment weighting mixed effects cox regression); B: Red line represent overall survival for microwave ablation; black line represents overall survival for multibipolar radiofrequency ablation. Levels of significance: P = 0.256 (inverse probability of treatment weighting mixed effects cox regression). MO: Microwave ablation; RF: Multibipolar radiofrequency ablation.