Interventional Radiology Treatments and Services at UPMC Hamot

Interventional radiology at UPMC Hamot offers treatments for all types of vascular and nonvascular diseases and conditions. We also use interventional radiology to guide certain biopsy, catheter, and pain management procedures.

Vascular Conditions

Cancer (diagnosis and locoregional treatment)

Treatment:

• Vascular access (mediports and tunneled catheters)
• Local regional cancer treatments for liver, kidney, and lung cancers (i.e. transarterial chemoembolization and/or image)

Circulation disorders, aneurysms, and peripheral artery disease

Treatment:

• Angiography and angioplasty: Placement of needles and/or catheters into the arteries or veins throughout the body. This can help diagnose many circulation disorders, including blockages and abnormal pouches in vessel walls (called aneurysms) and is often used following trauma to look for leakage or damage of major blood vessels.
• Embolization: Controls bleeding (post traumatic).

Gastrointestinal disease

Treatment:

• Percutaneous or transjugular liver biopsy
• Gastrointestinal bleeding

Gynecologic conditions

Treatment:

• Uterine artery embolization (symptomatic fibroids, postpartum hemorrhage)
• Pelvic congestion (venographic evaluation and embolization)

Kidney disease

Treatment:

• AV fistula/graft maintenance, including diagnosis and treatment
• Hemodialysis access (tunneled catheters)

Pulmonary conditions

Treatment:

• Bronchial arteriography and embolization
• Pulmonary arteriography and thrombolysis

Venous disease

Treatment:

• Venography, including veno-occlusive disease and their treatments (thrombolysis and/or recanulation)
• Inferior vena cava filter placement and retrieval
• Varicose vein diagnosis and treatment

Nonvascular Conditions

Bone conditions and certain cancers

Treatment:

• Vertebroplasty or kyphoplasty: Developed in the mid to late 1990s for treatment of painful fractures or collapses of the bones of the spine, this procedure involves injecting bone cement through a needle that is placed through the skin into the damaged bone. When the cement hardens, the bone becomes stable.
• These procedures are often very effective for relieving back pain from fractures caused by osteoporosis or bone softening.

Cancer

Treatment:

• Palliation of malignant pleural effusions or ascites (tunneled catheters)
• Bone marrow aspiration/biopsy

Genitourinary conditions

Treatment:

• Percutaneous nephrostomy
• Nephroureteral or antegrade ureteral stenting

Hepatobiliary and gastrointestinal conditions

Treatment:

• Percutaneous biliary access, cholangiography, drainage, stenting
• Enteric feeding tubes
• Primary placement of gastrostomy or gastrojejunostomy tubes
• Secondary management of gastrostomy gastrojejunostomy or jejunostomy tube

Pulmonary conditions

Treatment:

• Image guided chest tube placement, pleurodesis, tunneled pleural catheters

Additional Interventional Radiology Procedures

Biopsy procedures

Description:

• Using CT scans or ultrasound for guidance, special needles used for collecting small tissue samples can be placed into almost every organ of the body to help diagnose various conditions, including almost all forms of cancer.

Drainage procedures

Description:

• Many different conditions may be treated with small catheters. These are inserted through the skin into pockets of infection or fluid, or into organs with blocked tubes, such as the liver and kidneys.
• Many of these problems can be managed with interventional radiology techniques that formerly were only treated with major surgery.

Pain management procedures

Description:

• Image guided bursal and joint injections
• CT guided procedures:
• Celiac plexus neurolysis
• Facet blocks
• Epidural injections
• Diagnostic and therapeutic lumbar puncture
• Selective nerve root blocks
• Cervical
• Thoracic
• Lumbosacral