PURPOSE: The literature reports a wide range of percentages of ablation in the treatment of thyroid nodules. The aim of this nested case-control study was to evaluate whether the different morphological (well-defined vs. agglomerate) characteristics of nodules affect the success rate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We selected 20 patients with a single and /or dominant well-defined nodule (group 1) and 20 with a nodular formation resulting from the fusion of multiple nodules (group 2). All the nodules were treated by the laser method receiving the same energy. RESULTS: At 6 months, patients in group 1 showed a greater decrease in volume than those in group 2. These differences were more evident after 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that the efficacy of laser treatment can be predicted by nodule morphology and contributes to explaining the wide differences in the percentages of ablation reported in literature.
PURPOSE: The literature reports a wide range of percentages of ablation in the treatment of thyroid nodules. The aim of this nested case-control study was to evaluate whether the different morphological (well-defined vs. agglomerate) characteristics of nodules affect the success rate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We selected 20 patients with a single and /or dominant well-defined nodule (group 1) and 20 with a nodular formation resulting from the fusion of multiple nodules (group 2). All the nodules were treated by the laser method receiving the same energy. RESULTS: At 6 months, patients in group 1 showed a greater decrease in volume than those in group 2. These differences were more evident after 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that the efficacy of laser treatment can be predicted by nodule morphology and contributes to explaining the wide differences in the percentages of ablation reported in literature.