The procedure can be performed as an outpatient surgery using local anesthesia, and leaves substantially less scarring than open surgical procedures and no breast tissue deformation.The American Society of Breast Surgeons recommends the following criteria to establish a patient as a candidate for cryoablation of a fibroadenoma:
The lesion must be sonographically visible. The diagnosis of a fibroadenoma must be confirmed histologically. The lesion should be less than 4 cm in diameter. High Intensity Focused Ultrasound
High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) is a newer technique for the treatment of malignant and benign tumors of the breast and has shown promising results in the form of complete radiological removal of tumors. An ultrasound beam is focused on a target in the breast and leads to tissue death and protein degradation by raising the temperature in that area. Currently, the use of radiation is recommended in some cases, but HIFU in particular is not part of treatment guidelines. Further research into the usefulness of HIFU, specifically in fibroadenoma, is required before more widespread use of the technique in fibroadenoma. Epidemiology
Of all breast tissue samples taken, fibroadenomas comprise about 50%, and this rate rises to 75% for tissue sample in women under the age of 20 years. Fibroadenomas are more frequent among women in higher socioeconomic classes and darker-skinned people. Body mass index and the number of full-term pregnancies were found to have a negative correlation with the risk of fibroadenomas. There are no known genetic factors that influence the rate of fibroadenomas.
Polycythemia (also known as polycythaemia, polyglobulia and Erythrocytosis) is a disease state in which the hematocrit (the volume percentage of red blood cells in the blood) and/or hemoglobin concentration are elevated in peripheral blood. It can be due to an increase in the number of red blood cells ("absolute polycythemia") or to a decrease in the volume of plasma ("relative polycythemia"). Polycythemia is sometimes called erythrocytosis, but the terms are not synonymous, because polycythemia describes any increase in red blood mass (whether due to an erythrocytosis or not), whereas erythrocytosis is a documented increase of red cell count. The emergency treatment of polycythemia (e.g., in hyperviscosity or thrombosis) is by phlebotomy (removal of blood from the circulation). Depending on the underlying cause, phlebotomy may also be used on a regular basis to reduce the hematocrit. Myelosuppressive medications such as hydroxyurea are sometimes used for long-term management of polycythemia. Absolute polycythemia
The overproduction of red blood cells may be due to a primary process in the bone marrow (a so-called myeloproliferative syndrome), or it may be a reaction to chronically low oxygen levels or, rarely, a malignancy. Alternatively, additional red blood cells may have been received through another process—for example, being over-transfused (either accidentally or, as blood doping, deliberately) or being the recipient twin in a pregnancy, undergoing twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. Primary polycythemia
Primary polycythemias are due to factors intrinsic to red cell precursors.