Recent Update of Embolization of Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Bleeding

Nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal (UGI) bleeding is a frequent complication with significant morbidity and mortality. Although endoscopic hemostasis remains the initial treatment modality, severe bleeding despite endoscopic management occurs in 5-10% of patients, necessitating surgery or interventional embolotherapy. Endovascular embolotherapy is now considered the first-line therapy for massive UGI bleeding that is refractory to endoscopic management. Interventional radiologists need to be familiar with the choice of embolic materials, technical aspects of embolotherapy, and the factors affecting the favorable or unfavorable outcomes after embolotherapy for UGI bleeding

Tips and Tricks: Biopsies and Drainages

International audienc

Transcatheter Arterial Embolization in Patients with Kidney Diseases: an Overview of the Technical Aspects and Clinical Indications

Therapeutic embolization is defined as the voluntary occlusion of one or several vessels, and this is achieved by inserting material into the lumen to obtain transient or permanent thrombosis in the downstream vascular bed. There are a number of indications for this approach in urological practice, in particular for the patients with parenchymatous or vascular kidney disease. In this review, we present the different embolization techniques and the principally employed occluding agents, and then we present the principal clinical indications and we discuss other pathologies that may benefit from this non-invasive therapy. The complications, side effects and main precautions associated with this approach are also described

Current role of transcatheter arterial embolization for bladder and prostate hemorrhage

AbstractIntractable hematuria from the bladder or the prostate can be life-threatening and its management remains a difficult clinical problem. Severe bleeding can arise as a result of radiation cystitis, bladder carcinoma, cyclophosphamide-induced cystitis, severe infection, transurethral resection of the prostate and prostate cancer. When irrigation of the bladder through a three-way catheter and fulguration of the bleeding lesions fail to stop the hematuria, a life-threatening situation can develop, when blood transfusion fails to keep pace with the rate of blood loss. Patients with massive uncontrollable hematuria are often elderly and unfit for cystectomy as a treatment. Many urologists have had to manage this difficult problem, and several different treatments have been attempted and described, with varying degrees of success. Transcatheter arterial embolization of the vesical or prostatic arteries is occasionally indicated in these patients when all other measures have failed. There is limited published experience with this procedure, but success in 90% of patients is reported when the vesical or prostatic arteries can be identified. The aim of this review is to describe the current place of transcatheter arterial embolization in the management of severe bladder or prostate bleeding after failed conservative therapy, and to review its efficacy and morbidity

Endovascular treatment of visceral artery aneurysms and pseudoaneurysms with stent-graft: Analysis of immediate and long-term results

The aim of this study is to analyze the safety and efficacy of stent-graft endovascular treatment for visceral artery aneurysms and pseudoaneurysms. METHODS: Multicentric retrospective series of patients with visceral aneurysms and pseudoaneurysms treated by means of stent graft. The following variables were analyzed: Age, sex, type of lesion (aneurysms/pseudoaneurysms), localization, rate of success, intraprocedural and long term complication rate (SIR classification). Follow-up was performed under clinical and radiological assessment. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients (16 men), with a mean age of 59 (range 27-79), were treated. The indication was aneurysm in 19 patients and pseudoaneurysms in 6. The localizations were: splenic artery (12), hepatic artery (5), renal artery (4), celiac trunk (3) and gastroduodenal artery (1). Successful treatment rate was 96% (24/25 patients). Intraprocedural complication rate was 12% (4% major; 8% minor). Complete occlusion was demonstrated during follow up (mean 33 months, range 6-72) in the 24 patients with technical success. Two stent migrations (2/24; 8%) and 4stent thrombosis (4/24; 16%) were detected. Mortality rate was 0%. CONCLUSION: In our study, stent-graft endovascular treatment of visceral aneurysmns and pseudoaneurysms has demonstrated to be safe and is effective in the long-term in both elective and emergent cases, with a high rate of successful treatment and a low complication rate

The Current Use of Drug-Eluting Balloons and Stents in Peripheral Arterial Disease: An Online Survey by the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe (CIRSE).

PURPOSE: To assess the current use of drug-eluting devices for peripheral arterial disease (PAD) among interventional radiologists following the controversy caused by the 2018 meta-analysis suggesting an increased mortality risk for paclitaxel-eluting devices. METHODS: An anonymous survey was sent to 7035 CIRSE members via email; only complete responses were included and statistically analysed. RESULTS: Three hundred and seven members (4.4%) completed the survey. Among these, 95.8% indicated that they personally perform peripheral vascular procedures. Thirty-eight percentage of respondents did not see any change of practice since 2018, while 47% reported that the use of drug-eluting devices decreased; for 13%, the use stopped altogether, while it increased in 3% of responses. 45.6% of respondents also felt the impact of the controversy in terms of pricing, availability or directives from hospital administration. A large majority of respondents (83.7%) who perform peripheral vascular procedures consider the use of these devices as safe, 12.9% were undecided and 3.4% did not consider them as safe. Among the respondents who do not perform endovascular procedures, 77% considered these devices as safe and 23% were undecided. CONCLUSION: Although the 2018 meta-analysis had a disruptive impact on the use of drug-eluting devices in PAD, with the increasing body of evidence available, a majority of respondents continue to believe in the safety of these devices for use in femoropopliteal disease

Future of IR: Emerging Techniques, Looking to the Future…and Learning from the Past

Innovation has been the cornerstone of interventional radiology since the early years of the founders, with a multitude of new therapeutic approaches developed over the last 50 years. What is the future holding for us? This article presents an overview of the in-coming developments that are catching on at this moment, particularly focusing on three items: the new applications of existing techniques, particularly embolotherapy and interventional oncology; the cutting-edge devices; the imaging technologies at the forefront of the image-guidance. Besides this, clinical vision and patient relation remain crucial for the future of the discipline