COMPARISON OF LAPAROSCOPIC SALINE INFUSED TO DRY RADIO FREQUENCY ABLATION OF RENAL TISSUE: EVOLUTION OF HISTOLOGICAL INFARCT IN THE PORCINE MODEL

ABSTRACTPurpose:: We investigated and compared the gross and histopathological features of radio frequency (RF) ablated renal tissue using saline infused RF ablation (RFA) vs dry RFA in a porcine model.Materials and Methods:: Ten porcine kidneys underwent laparoscopic RFA. The lower and upper poles of each right kidney were treated with 1 and 2 cycles of saline augmented (wet) RFA, respectively. The upper pole of each left kidney was RF ablated without saline infusion (dry RFA) and a control lesion was created in the lower pole. The animals were sacrificed immediately after ´, 2 and 9 days after (subacute), and 14 and 21 days after (chronic) treatment, respectively. Gross pathological and histological changes caused by the different RF treatments were compared.Results:: Mean time to attain target temperature was shorter with wet than with dry RFA. Grossly the lesion sizes achieved were larger using wet RFA but independent of the number of wet RFA treatment cycles. Gross lesion sizes decreased with time fo...