Fever after lung radiofrequency ablation: Prospective evaluation of its incidence and associated factors

• We investigated the incidence of post-lung radiofrequency ablation fever.
• The factors associated with the presence and grade of fever were also evaluated.
• The incidence of post-ablation fever was 73%.
• Ablated parenchymal volume and pulmonary infiltration were associated with fever.
• Pulmonary infiltration was associated with higher grade of fever.

PurposeTo prospectively investigate the incidence of post-lung radiofrequency (RF) ablation fever as well as its associated factors, according to the grade of fever.Materials and MethodsA total of 56 patients who underwent 67 lung RF sessions were analyzed. Post-ablation fever (≥37.0 °C) was graded according to the common toxicity criteria of adverse events v. 4.0. Fever ≥37.0 °C and <38.0 °C was defined as grade 0 fever. The 67 RF sessions were divided into two groups according to the presence of post-ablation fever, and the factors associated with fever were determined using univariate and multivariate analyses. Subsequently, the RF sessions accompanied by post-ablation fever were further divided into two groups according to the grade of fever (grade 0 vs. grade ≥1), and the factors associated with the grade of fever were determined.ResultsGrade 0, 1, and 2 fever accompanied 36 (54%), 11 (16%), and 2 (3%) sessions, respectively. Post-ablation fever was significantly associated with larger ablated parenchymal volume (P = 0.001) and development of pulmonary infiltration (P = 0.004). Additionally, development of pulmonary infiltration (P = 0.048) was also significantly and independently associated with higher grade of fever in the multivariate analysis.ConclusionsThe incidences of grade 0, 1, and 2 post-ablation fever were 54%, 16%, and 3%, respectively. Larger ablated parenchymal volume and development of pulmonary infiltration were found to be associated with the development of post-ablation fever, with the latter being an independent factor associated with higher grade of fever.