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Evaluation of Radiofrequency Thermal Ablation Results in Inferior Turbinate Hypertrophies by Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Author(s) -
Sapci Tarik,
Usta Canan,
Evcimik M Fatih,
Bozkurt Ziya,
Aygun Elcin,
Karavus Ahmet,
Peker Mustafa
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1097/mlg.0b013e3180306d8b
Subject(s) - medicine , radiofrequency ablation , magnetic resonance imaging , radiology , turbinates , ablation , muscle hypertrophy , catheter ablation , surgery , nuclear medicine , nose
Objectives : Nasal obstruction caused by inferior turbinate hypertrophies is one of the most frequent problems in otolaryngology. Treatment of this disease may involve medical and surgical methods. Thermal ablation with radiofrequency energy has become quite popular in the recent years as one of the surgical methods used when medical therapy is not adequate. Study Design : Prospective, clinical trial. Methods : Thermal ablation with radiofrequency energy was used in this study on the inferior turbinates of 21 patients who had nasal obstruction caused by inferior turbinate hypertrophy only. The results were evaluated subjectively by preoperative and postoperative patient‐ and physician‐assigned visual analogue scales and objectively by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) investigation. Results : By the end of the postoperative week 10, 64.76% recovery was detected according to the patient evaluation, and 40.75% recovery was detected according to the physician evaluation. Measurement of the average volumes of the inferior turbinates by MRI revealed a 8.70% postoperative reduction. The most significant change was detected in the anterior‐posterior length measurement performed in the axial plane. Conclusions : These results suggest that thermal ablation with radiofrequency energy is an easily applied, efficient, and reliable technique in treatment of the inferior turbinate hypertrophy, and that anterior‐posterior length measurement in the axial section of the inferior turbinate by MRI, which is thought as an objective evaluation method, could be an efficient diagnostic tool in detecting the efficiency of radiofrequency on inferior turbinate.