Tj. Vogl et al., MR-GUIDED LASER-INDUCED THERMOTHERAPY OF TUMORS OF THE HEAD AND NECK REGION - FIRST CLINICAL-RESULTS, RoFo. Fortschritte auf dem Gebiete der Rontgenstrahlen und der neuenbildgebenden Verfahren, 163(6), 1995, pp. 505-514
Purpose: To analyse the value of MR-guided laser-in duced thermotherap
y (LITT) for palliative treatment of recurrent tumours of the head and
neck region. Material and methods: 8 patients with recurrent tumours
of the head and neck region (squamous cell carcinomas n = 6, pleomorph
ic adenomas n = 2) underwent MR-controlled LITT. A 7 French laser appl
icator was inserted under local anaesthesia into the centre of the rec
urrent tumour. A Nd:YAG laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm was used. T
herapy was monitored on-line using special MR thermosequences. Results
: Preinterventional contrast-enhanced MRI revealed a recurrent tumour
of the head and neck region for all eight patients. All patients toler
ated the procedures well under local anaesthesia, with no clinically r
elevant side effects. The MR thermosequences depicted up to 15 mm diam
eter areas of less signal near the laser tip. Postinterventional contr
ast-enhanced MRI revealed hypovascularised areas due to the resulting
coagulative necrosis. Coagulative necrosis of 4 cc to 28 cc occurred i
n all patients, and a reduction of clinical symptoms was achieved in f
ive. Conclusion: The results obtained indicate that minimal invasive L
ITT can be a therapeutic alternative for palliative treatment of head
and neck tumours.