R. Vanhillegersberg et al., WATER-JET-COOLED ND-YAG LASER COAGULATION OF EXPERIMENTAL LIVER METASTASES - CORRELATION BETWEEN ULTRASONOGRAPHY AND HISTOLOGY, Lasers in surgery and medicine, 13(3), 1993, pp. 332-343
To establish the value of ultrasonography in imaging laser coagulation
of tumor and surrounding tissue, the relation between measurements on
ultrasound and histology was determined in a rat tumor model. A piece
of colon carcinoma CC531 was implanted in the liver of 21 Wag/Rij rat
s; 20 days later, tumors (mean diameter 5.3 mm) were treated with a wa
ter-jet-cooled Nd:YAG laser at 10 W and either 150 J, 300 J, 600 J, 1,
200 J, 1,700 J, or 2,400 J. Ultrasonography was done just pre- and imm
ediately post-laser treatment. The animals were sacrificed and livers
removed for light microscopical evaluation. Depth and width of coagula
tion were measured directly on ultrasound, and on histological samples
by computer-assisted image analysis. Laser treatment did not change t
he echogenic aspect of the tumor on ultrasound. However, liver damage
appeared hypoechoic compared to normal liver. A significant correlatio
n was found between the total size of the lesion on ultrasound and his
tology (P=0.015, r=0.57 for depth; P=0.012, r=0.58 for width), suggest
ing that laser induced tumor destruction may be derived from the amoun
t of surrounding hepatic damage on ultrasound.