Ethanol Ablation as a Treatment in a Low-Risk Follicular Thyroid Cancer: A Case Report

Abstract

Thyroid nodules are relatively prevalent in clinical practice; they are found by palpation in 3-7% of the general population and by ultrasonography (US) in roughly 50%. Image-guided nonsurgical procedures such as ethanol ablation (EA) or radiofrequency ablation (RFA) have been proposed for a selected group of patients as alternatives to traditional treatments. We present a case of a low-risk follicular variant of papillary thyroid cancer treated successfully with EA after examination and identification of the nodule as an ideal candidate for the treatment proposed. We highlight the efficacy of EA in this case, and how this contributes to the existing literature to continue proposing this as a viable treatment option.