High-intensity focused ultrasound ablation: a non-surgical approach to treat advanced and complicated liver alveococcosis

Abstract

Liver alveococcosis is a life-threatening parasitic disease with progressive growth and wide metastasis to neighboring tissues, lungs, and brain. The radical treatment option is surgery along with a few chemical therapies. However, the frequency of progression and recurrence, as well as postoperative complications and mortality, remains very high. The high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment system, a therapeutic application using ultrasound to deliver heat or agitation into the body, was initially designed to treat cancer. Advanced and complicated forms of liver alveococcosis usually require surgical treatment to provide partial ectomy of necrotized liver tissue along with alveococcal caverns and sanitation of the peritoneal cavity. In this article, we presented a case of successful HIFU ablation with transhepatic puncture and drainage in treatment of complicated and advanced liver alveococcosis to avoid wide surgical treatment.