Doctors in Washington, DC, have become the first physicians in the U.S. to treat osteoid osteoma using an experimental MR-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU) method.
A 16-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were treated with MR-HIFU at Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children's National Health System for the benign but painful bone tumor that commonly occurs in children and young adults.
Currently, the most commonly used treatment for osteoid osteoma is CT-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA). While it's less invasive than orthopedic surgery, the treatment still requires drilling through muscle and soft tissue into bone. RFA also exposes the patient and operator to ionizing radiation.
HIFU uses focused sound-wave energy to heat and destroy targeted tumors under MRI guidance. In the U.S., MR-HIFU is used to treat uterine fibroids and bone metastases from several types of cancer in adults, but it has not been used in children.
