BACKGROUND

Postpartum abdominal laxity is a growing concern for women. Noninvasive options like microwave technology and fractional carbon dioxide (CO2) laser show promise, but their combined efficacy and safety require further investigation.

To compare the efficacy and safety of microwaves versus combined microwaves and fractional CO2 laser in the treatment of postpartum abdominal laxity among Filipino patients.

Thirty-two patients with Fitzpatrick skin type III-V and postpartum abdominal laxity received three microwaves sessions, with one side randomly assigned an additional fractional carbon dioxide laser session (designated as side B, while the other as side A). Global aesthetic improvement scale (GAIS) scores and patient satisfaction (PS) scores were determined at every follow-up. Baseline and completion body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were taken, and adverse effects were recorded.

Significant improvements in GAIS and PS scores were noted for both sides across all sessions, with side B showing superior scores post-CO2 laser. These improvements were attributed to epidermal thickening and dermal collagen and elastin remodeling, the latter seen histologically in a representative patient. Adverse effects were mild and noted only with CO2 laser.

The combined use of the microwaves system and fractional CO2 laser is safe and well-tolerated and is superior to microwaves alone in the treatment of postpartum abdominal laxity.

We report a case of functional parathyroid cyst treated by ultrasound-guided anhydrous ethanol sclerotherapy and microwave ablation. The 63-year-old female patient was diagnosed to have functional parathyroid cyst with hypercalcemia, high PTH and cystic space-occupying lesions in the neck by ultrasound, radionuclide scanning and PTH measurement of the cystic fluid. The patient refused to receive cyst resection, and anhydrous ethanol sclerotherapy with microwave ablation was performed under ultrasound guidance. The procedure was completed smoothly without any complications either during or after the operation. Follow-up examination of the patient at 18 months after the operation showed a significant reduction of the mass and normal blood calcium and iPTH levels, demonstrating a clinical cure of the patient. Ablative treatment of functional parathyroid cyst has not been documented so far. This approach provides a minimally invasive treatment modality for such cases where surgical resection is not an option, but its efficacy and safety need to be evaluated in more cases with longer follow-up time.
Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Microwaves/therapeutic use* ; Plastic Surgery Procedures ; Cysts ; Ethanol/therapeutic use* ; Ultrasonography, Interventional

Because mammary glands are regulated by endocrine factors, they are prone to various abnormalities and disorders. Breast nodules are common and occur frequently in clinical practice. The clinical management of breast nodules mainly includes follow-up observation, lesion biopsy, and surgical intervention, and surgical intervention is an effective treatment. Ultrasound-guided percutaneous microwave ablation is a new minimally invasive treatment technology developed in recent years. It has the advantages of short operation time, no scarring, less damage to the lactiferous duct, quick recovery, and good curative effects without bleeding. The establishment of an expert consensus on microwave ablation for benign breast nodules aims to provide a reliable clinical basis for microwave ablation of benign breast nodules, standardize the treatment process, and improve treatment efficacy, so as to serve as a reference for physicians in clinical practice.
Humans ; Consensus ; Microwaves/therapeutic use* ; Catheter Ablation ; Thyroid Nodule/surgery* ; Radiofrequency Ablation ; Treatment Outcome

For the detection and identification of abnormal nodular tissues on the body surface, a microwave sensor structure loaded with a spiral resonator is proposed in this paper, a sensor simulation model is established using HFSS software, the structural parameters are optimized, and the actual sensor is fabricated. The S21 parameters of the tissue were obtained when nodules appeared by simulation, and the characteristic relationship between the difference of S21 parameters with position was analyzed and tested experimentally. The results showed that when nodules were present in normal tissues, the curve of S21 parameter difference with position change had obvious inverted bimodal characteristics, and the extreme value of S21 parameter difference appeared when the sensor was directly above the nodules, which was easy to identify the position of nodules. It provides an objective detection tool for the identification of abnormal nodular tissues on the body surface.
Microwaves ; Recognition, Psychology ; Computer Simulation ; Software

OBJECTIVE: To assess the safety and efficacy of"leverage pry-off method"for preventing thermal injury during microwave ablation of benign thyroid nodules. METHODS: From July, 2017 to September, 2019, a total of 348 patients with benign thyroid nodules underwent ultrasound-guided microwave ablation. For protecting from thermal injury during the ablation, "hydrodissection technique" was used in 174 of the patients (admitted from July, 2017 to August, 2018) and "leverage pry-off method" in the other 174 patients (admitted from September, 2018 to September, 2019). All the patients were followed up for 1 to 12 months after the operation for observation of severe complications and nodular residues. RESULTS: Ultrasound-guided microwave ablation was completed in all the 348 patients. The most common severe complication associated with the ablation was voice change, occurring in 3 cases (1.7%) in "hydrodissection technique" group and in 4 (2.3%) in the "leverage pry-off method" group, showing no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). During the follow-up, no significant difference was found in the rate of nodular residues between the "hydrodissection technique" group and "hydrodissection technique" group (9.8% vs 10.9% (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS The "leverage pry-off method" is simple and effective for preventing thermal injury during microwave ablation of benign thyroid nodules.
Humans ; Microwaves/therapeutic use* ; Thyroid Nodule/surgery* ; Burns ; Hospitalization ; Radiofrequency Ablation

Animals ; Autophagy ; Microwaves/adverse effects* ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

Rats ; Animals ; RNA, Long Noncoding/genetics* ; RNA, Messenger/genetics* ; Microwaves ; Transcriptome ; Hippocampus

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the silver in chitosan antibacterial gel, and to establish a method for the determination of silver content in samples. METHODS: The silver in the samples was analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SP-ICP-MS). Microwave digestion was adopted to digest the chitosan antibacterial gel, and then the content of silver was determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. RESULTS: The analysises showed that the particle size of silver in chitosan antibacterial gel was about 150~ 200 nm. The silver showed good linearity in the concentration range of 25~250 μg/L (y=0.000 35x+0.001 7, r=0.999 9). The recovery rate (n=9) was 98.5%. CONCLUSIONS SEM, EDS and SP-ICP-MS can be used for the characterization of silver particles in chitosan antibacterial gel. Microwave digestion-flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry method is simple, practicable, high precision and high quantitative accuracy, which is suitable for the quantitative analysis of silver in chitosan antibacterial gel.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology* ; Chitosan/chemistry* ; Microwaves ; Particle Size ; Silver

Catheter Ablation ; Graves Disease/surgery* ; Humans ; Microwaves/therapeutic use* ; Radiofrequency Ablation ; Treatment Outcome ; Ultrasonography ; Ultrasonography, Interventional

OBJECTIVE: To explore the risk grading method for benign thyroid nodules before microwave ablation and the clinical significance of risk grading. METHODS: This study was conducted among 527 patients undergoing ultrasound-guided microwave ablation of benign thyroid nodules between July, 2017 and December, 2020.Based on anatomic relationship of the thyroid nodules with the adjacent tissues, the ablation risk was classified into 4 levels: low, medium, high and extremely high risks.The incidence of severe complications and the rate of residual nodules following the ablation were recorded. RESULTS: In the patients graded to have low, medium, high and extremely high preoperative risks, the incidences of severe complications following the ablation were 0%, 0.88%, 2.41% and 6.78%, respectively, showing no significant differences among the different risk groups (P > 0.05).The rates of postoperative residual nodules in the 4 risk groups were 1.59%, 6.14%, 14.43% and 71.19%, respectively, showing a significant difference between the low and medium risk groups and the high and extremely high risk groups (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Preoperative risk grading for thyroid nodular ablation can be helpful for prevention of severe complications during ablation and prediction of residual nodules after ablation.
Humans ; Thyroid Nodule/epidemiology* ; Microwaves/therapeutic use* ; Catheter Ablation/methods* ; Treatment Outcome ; Retrospective Studies