Bar Graph of Tumor Indications for Histotripsy in a National Cohort. Credit: JAMA Network Open (2026). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.27493
It has been nearly three years since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the HistoSonics Edison histotripsy system to treat primary and metastatic liver tumors. To examine how the technology's adoption and use have progressed, a research team at the University of Virginia, led by Allan Tsung, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Surgery, sought to provide an early national snapshot of its use for this indication.
Tsung and his team analyzed electronic health records to evaluate liver histotripsy practice patterns and short-term outcomes in the United States. The paper is published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Using a retrospective cohort of de-identified patient data from a large electronic health record, the team searched for adult patients who had undergone the histotripsy procedure billing code (0686T). The search produced information on 972 patients, including demographic, geographic and diagnostic information, along with laboratory results before and after liver histotripsy.
The patients:
