Thyroid Artery Embolization for the Treatment of Compressive Goiters. (TAE)

January 16, 2026 updated by: Laurent Fradet, Université de Sherbrooke

Thyroid Artery Embolization for the Treatment of Compressive Goiters: a Prospective Cohort Study.

Very few studies have investigated TAE as a treatment for goiter with compressive symptoms. What is the efficacy and safety of TAE for the treatment of compressive goiters in a population ineligible for or refusing standard therapy? This is a prospective interventional cohort study that will allow us to standardize imaging by improving quality data collection and fellow-up to assess the efficacy of TAE for compressive symptoms of nodular goiters. Not only to corroborate current emerging results but clearly define the expected results for this technique.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study is a prospective interventional cohort study.

The prospective cohort setting allows us to evaluate the direct effect of TAE on a series of patients on a longer period and to strengthen the retrospective data previously documented in other studies.

Included patients will have compressive symptoms or significant tracheal or oesophageal compression at risk of causing symptoms attributed to a goiter.

They have to be Ineligible for surgery/ablative treatments or preference for TAE over other treatments.

There is no comparative group in our study as it aims to prove that TAE is effective and safe in a "nonsurgical" population, a population in which other alternatives lack or are refused by the patient.

Our sampling method will be a non-probabilistic convenience sampling. Patients will be recruited in an outpatient setting by the patient's treating endocrinologist or otolaryngologist.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

20

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patient with compressive symptoms or significant tracheal or oesophageal compression at risk of causing symptoms attributed to a goiter AND
  • Ineligible for surgery/ablative treatments or preference for TAE over other treatments AND
  • TiRADS category 1, 2, 3 or 4 AND
  • Bethesda categories I or III on 2 different biopsies OR Bethesda II on one biopsy AND
  • Patient at least 18 years old.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Comorbidities precluding endovascular procedure OR
  • TiRADS category 5 OR
  • Bethesda categories IV, V, VI on biopsy OR
  • Refusal of the patient to participate OR
  • Uncontrolled severe hyperthyroidism OR
  • Minor patient.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Thyroid Artery Embolization
Patients with diagnosis of Goiter with compressive symptoms in which other alternatives lack or are refused by the patient himself.
Procedure: Thyroid Artery Embolization
Interruption of blood flow that supplies thyroid nodule using embolization technique.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Thyroid nodule volume
Time Frame: Follow-ups at 1 week, and 3 months, 6 months and 12 months post-op.
TAE effectiveness to reduce overall thyroid and nodular volumes in benign compressive goiters assessing changes in Nodule(s) volume(s) and Thyroid lobe volume.
Follow-ups at 1 week, and 3 months, 6 months and 12 months post-op.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in symptoms after TAE.
Time Frame: Follow-ups at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months post-op.

Assess the impact of TAE on the symptoms related to the goiter as reported by the patient. Using ThyPRO score.

ThyPRO is designed to evaluate physical, psychological, and social impairments caused by benign thyroid diseases by evaluating :

  • Symptom severity
  • Functional limitations
  • Emotional and social impacts
  • This disease-specific focus supports patient-centered care, clinical decision-making, and outcomes research.
  • Target Population ThyPRO is validated for adults aged 18 and older with benign thyroid diseases.

The ThyPRO consists of 85 items, grouped into:

13 multi-item domains: Goiter symptoms (11 items) Hyperthyroid symptoms (8) Hypothyroid symptoms (4) Eye symptoms (8) Tiredness (7) Cognitive impairment (6) Anxiety (6), Depressivity (7) Emotional susceptibility (9) Impaired social life (4), daily life (6), and sex life (2) Cosmetic complaints (6)

1 global QoL item Each question is rated on a 5-point Likert scale (0 = Not at all to 4 = Completely
Follow-ups at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months post-op.
Safety level of TAE in compressive goiter: Adverse Events report
Time Frame: Day of embolisation; Follow-ups at 1 week, and 3 months, 6 months and 12 months post-op.
Evaluate the safety of TAE for the treatment of benign compressive goiter using the Adverse Events report.
Day of embolisation; Follow-ups at 1 week, and 3 months, 6 months and 12 months post-op.
Safety level of TAE in compressive goiter: thyroid function tests
Time Frame: At baseline visit, approximately 48 hours after the intervention, and 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after the intervention. More tests can be done according to the treating physician.
Monitoring of the effect of the intervention with thyroid function tests.
At baseline visit, approximately 48 hours after the intervention, and 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after the intervention. More tests can be done according to the treating physician.
Safety level of TAE in compressive goiter: parathyroid function tests
Time Frame: At baseline visit, approximately 48 hours after the intervention, and 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after the intervention. More tests can be done according to the treating physician.
Describe the effect of the procedure on parathyroid function with PTH and calcium blood levels.
At baseline visit, approximately 48 hours after the intervention, and 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after the intervention. More tests can be done according to the treating physician.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Université de Sherbrooke

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

January 31, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 2, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 16, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

January 22, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 22, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 16, 2026

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2025-5830

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

IPD information will only be shared after a formal request sent to the principal investigator's email address if the latter considers that the request is legally scientifically justified.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Thyroid Nodules

Clinical Trials on Thyroid Artery Embolization

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Czech Republic

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe