CASE REPORT article
Front. Med.
Sec. Precision Medicine
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1653291
Two cases of Graves ' disease induced by microwave ablation for thyroid nodules
Provisionally accepted
- 1Changzhi Medical College Affiliated Peace Hospital, Changzhi, China
- 2Changzhi Medical College, Changzhi, China
- 3Qinghai University, Xining, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background: Microwave ablation(MWA) has emerged as a commonly used minimally invasive technique for the treatment of thyroid nodules. Although numerous postprocedural adverse reactions have been reported following this procedure, there are extremely rare reports of Graves' disease(GD) being induced postprocedurally. Case Presentation: Two female patients,aged 35 and 42 years, who underwent MWA treatment for papillary thyroid carcinoma and nodular goiter respectively, were diagnosed with GD at 3 months and 8 months postprocedurally.Both patients exhibited elevated thyroid-related antibodies prior to ablation and are currently receiving antithyroid drug therapy. Outcome: Despite receiving antithyroid drug therapy, persistent hyperthyroidis was observed, with thyroid ultrasound revealing diffuse parenchymal lesions and elevated levels of thyrotropin receptor antibodies(TRAb). Conclusion: These cases suggest a potential association between MWA-induced thermal injury, subsequent thyroid antigen release, and triggered autoimmune responses leading to GD. While MWA offers benefits in thyroid nodule management,careful patient selection-particularly avoiding routine use in those with autoimmune predispositions-and enhanced post-procedural follow-up(including thyroid function and antibody monitoring) are crucial to mitigate such rare but significant complications.
Keywords: Microwave ablation, Graves 'disease, Hyperthyroidism, Thyroid Nodule, thyroid cancer
Received: 24 Jun 2025; Accepted: 04 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cui, Dong, Xue, Wang, Cui and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hao-Yu Dong, Changzhi Medical College Affiliated Peace Hospital, Changzhi, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.