Characterization of the ablation zones produced by three commercially available systems from a single vendor for radiofrequency thermoablation in an ex vivo swine liver model.

Ablation zone reproducibility was higher when expressed in terms of ablation zone diameters than estimated volume. Local saline perfusion of the parenchyma through the electrode tip during RFA increased the ablation zone longitudinal diameter. Ablation zone estimated volume increased with saline perfusion only when double passage was performed. These data may provide useful information for those clinicians who intend to include RFA as an additive tool in veterinary interventional radiology.