A 70-year-old woman who struggled to hear, speak and swallow due to multiple large masses growing in her neck has become the first in the region to undergo an innovative treatment that shrinks non-cancerous growths without the need for surgery.
The minimally invasive treatment, known as radiofrequency ablation (RFA), was delivered by a specialist team of radiologists and endocrine surgeons at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in a regional first.
It uses thermal energy, generated through an oscillating current and delivered through a very fine needle at the frequency of radio waves to shrink the enlarged thyroids from the inside out. Ultrasound is used to guide the needle into position.
The new method - which is already in use in Sheffield for liver cancer patients - offers a painless and less invasive way of treating patients with non-cancerous multiple thyroid nodules that cause pressure, pain and significant discomfort.
It also means patients can avoid a general anaesthetic, thick neck scarring and the need for lifelong medications to replace missing hormones following partial or full removal of thyroid glands. Some patients are also able to return home on the same day.
The Sheffield team are one of a limited number of centres in the UK, and the first outside of Newcastle in the north of England, to offer the procedure to patients with benign enlarged thyroids.
'Minimally invasive procedure left no scar'
| The minimally invasive procedure was delivered by a specialist team at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in a Yorkshire first
Hazel Khawaja, from Rotherham was the first patient in Sheffield, and the first in Yorkshire, to receive the innovative treatment. She said she was diagnosed with multiple thyroid nodules two and a half years ago.
Although a biopsy confirmed the growths were benign, the large lumps - which were increasing in size - put pressure on her throat, food pipe and airways, leaving her unable to hear in her left ear and making it difficult for her to talk, swallow and breathe.
Following the procedure, her symptoms including her hearing dysfunction which are not usually associated with goitres, have disappeared.
"It's unbelievable how much it has affected my life. Since I've had this done, I can hear perfect. I can hear a pin drop. I don't get pressure now and I can speak a lot more clearly and I can hear my small grandchildren properly now - they are so loud! It was getting difficult to swallow and I was getting out of breath, but nothing bothers me now and I have no scar. The team did a wonderful job. I can't thank them enough."
Surgical milestone
RFA is performed as an outpatient procedure under local anaesthetic and can be performed in 20-30 minutes, meaning valuable theatre resource can be freed up for other patients.
Mr Saba P Balasubramanian, Endocrine Surgeon and Clinical Director, Directorate of General Surgery at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We are proud to be one of a small number of centres in the UK delivering this minimally invasive treatment to patients. This new technique is a significant milestone in the management of benign thyroid nodules, offering a new and less invasive way of relieving symptoms and shrinking growths in those with non-cancerous growths whose previously option would typically have been surgery.
"Our first few cases have been a great success and reflect the incredible hard work of the excellent multidisciplinary team working from within radiology to set this up over the last few years. As a new technique, performed in very few centres currently, the rollout of this service in Sheffield means we will also be able to provide high-quality evidence as to its effectiveness as an alternative to surgery as part of an exciting Uk-wide trial. This could pave the way for more centres to introduce the technique, which received NICE approval a few years ago."
Lumps in the thyroid gland in the neck are very common. Up to 95% are benign (not cancerous) and often cause no symptoms, though some can produce excess hormones or grow large enough to cause swallowing or breathing difficulties.
About Thyroid Nodules
