Ultrasound-guided Thermal Ablation for Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Inclusion Criteria: 1. patients age between 18 and 80 year old, both sex 2. papillary thyroid carcinoma confirmed by core-needle biopsy or fine-needle aspiration 3. the largest diameter ≤2.0 cm 4. no clinical or imaging evidences of extrathyroidal extension, lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis on ultrasound, neck and chest CT 5. follow-up period ≥12 months Exclusion Criteria: 1. patients with convincing evidence of aggressive papillary thyroid carcinoma or other type of thyroid cancer by biopsy 2. history of neck radiation 3. coagulation disorder, serious heart, respiratory, liver, or renal failure 4. dysfunction of the vocal cord on the opposite side