Irreversible electroporation for nonthermal tumor ablation in the clinical setting: a systematic review of safety and efficacy.

Purpose: To provide an overview of current clinical results of irreversible electroporation (IRE), a novel, nonthermal tumor ablation technique that uses electric pulses to induce cell death, while preserving structural integrity of bile ducts and vessels.

Methods: All in-human literature on IRE reporting safety or efficacy or both was included. All adverse events were recorded.

[Irreversible electroporation: a new form of image-guided tumour ablation].

Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a new, non-thermal image-guided tumour ablation technique. The repeated application of high-voltage electrical pulses causes pores to form in the cell membrane, so that cells lose their homeostatic properties, and die. The advantage of IRE over other local ablation techniques is that IRE selectively destroys cells, whilst the surrounding extracellular matrix structures remain intact.