Category Archives: Interventional Radiology

Interventional Radiology, Print Release

PUBLISHED: Pulmonary AVM Embolization

Pulmonary AVM Embolization
Jelena Ivanis1; Andrew Ding1; Dennis Barbon1; Fabian Laage-Gaupp, MD2; Jeffrey Pollak, MD2
1Frank H. Netter, MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University
2Yale School of Medicine

Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVMs) are rare fistulous connections between pulmonary arteries and veins that, as in this case, are commonly associated with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT). Embolotherapy, the mainstay of treatment for PAVMs, is a procedure in which the feeding arteries of a malformation are endovascularly occluded under fluoroscopic guidance. Effective and well-tolerated, embolotherapy has been shown to decrease right-to-left shunting following treatment and decrease risks of paradoxical embolization and lung hemorrhage and to improve pulmonary gas exchange and lung function. Patients are selected for treatment according to clinical suspicion for the presence of a PAVM and feeding artery diameter. The occlusion of PAVMs with arteries that exceed 2–3 mm in diameter is recommended.

Diagnostic contrast-enhanced pulmonary angiography is performed via injection of contrast through a percutaneous catheter to characterize and confirm PAVMs suitable for embolization. Lesions are then treated by catheter-directed placement of embolic material— vascular plugs in this case—into the feeding artery, terminating blood flow to the area of the lesion. Although multiple PAVMs may be embolized during a single session, in patients with HHT, who may present with large numbers of PAVMs, treatment is limited by maximum contrast dosage, and additional sessions may be performed if PAVMs remain perfused.

Interventional Radiology, Print Release

PUBLISHED: Prostatic Artery Embolization (PAE)

Prostatic Artery Embolization (PAE)
Paul Irons1; Dennis A. Barbon1; Fabian Laage-Gaupp, MD2; Rajasekhara R. Ayyagari, MD2
1Frank H. Netter, MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University
2Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common condition affecting the majority of men over 60 years of age. BPH incidence increases with age and often leads to lower urinary tract symptoms including frequency, urgency, and straining. In patients that do not respond to pharmacological therapy, options include transurethral procedures such as transurethral resection (TURP) or photovaporization, surgical prostatectomy, and prostate artery embolization (PAE).

The goal of PAE is to occlude arterial supply to the prostate by selective catheterization and subsequent embolization, most commonly with spherical tris-acryl gelatin microspheres. Over weeks to months, reduced blood flow leads to necrosis of prostatic adenomatous tissue, resulting in reduction of prostate size and decreased urethral impingement, eventually allowing for long-term resolution of symptoms in a majority of patients. Advantages of this technique compared with the standard surgical option, TURP, include faster recovery times, fewer side effects, and lower complication rates with near equal efficacy.