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In This Section
Hospital-Based Interventional Radiology Services
Atherectomy
Atherectomy is a procedure to remove plaque from the arteries. Plaque is the buildup of fat, cholesterol and other substances in an artery’s inner lining. Coronary atherectomy removes plaque from the arteries supplying blood to the heart muscle. It uses a laser catheter, or a rotating shaver (“burr” device on the end of a catheter). The catheter is inserted into the body and advanced through an artery to the area of narrowing.
A relatively new device has been FDA approved for percutaneous treatment of peripheral (non-coronary) arteries. This uses a rapidly rotating blade (about the size of a grain of rice) that shaves the plaque that has built up along the walls of the artery and pushes it into a cone mounted on the catheter that allows actual removal of the tissue. The interventional radiologists of Lake Medical Imaging & Vascular Institute are proud to be one of the first to utilize this new technology in the state of Florida.
Thrombolytic Therapy
Thrombolysis is the treatment to break up abnormal blood clots that are restricting blood flow. Thrombolytic therapy dissolves these blood clots using various medications administered directly into the clot through a catheter. Thrombectomy is the disruption of a blood clot using one of several mechanical devices. Our interventional radiologists can use either or both of these methods to dissolve and remove blood clots. Radiological thrombolysis can greatly improve blood flow, and reduce or eliminate the related symptoms and effects without the need for more invasive surgery.
Inferior Vena Cava Filter Placement
Sometimes, clots develop in the leg veins called deep vein thrombosis. A clot, or a piece of it, can move out of your leg and flow towards your heart and lungs, which could be life threatening. An Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) filter protects the lungs from these life threatening clots. It is a filter placed in the inferior vena cava, which is a large vein that connects your leg veins with your heart. The IVC filter, placed by an Interventional Radiologist, traps blood clots.
Catheter Embolization
Embolization, a fairly new treatment method, is a way of occluding (closing), or, at least, drastically reducing blood flow to one or more blood vessels that are doing more harm than good. One of a variety of materials, depending on whether vessel occlusion is to be temporary or permanent, is passed through a catheter, its tip lying in or near the vessel to be closed. This approach can be used to control or prevent abnormal bleeding as well as to shut down the vessels that support a growing tumor. Therapeutic embolization may also serve to eliminate an arteriovenous malformation (AVM), an abnormal communication between an artery and a vein. The term “embolization” derives from embolus, which can be any object that circulates in the bloodstream until it lodges in a blood vessel – in this case, a synthetic material or medication specially designed to occlude the blood vessels.
Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (TIPS)
When the liver encounters any of the diseases that cause cirrhosis, scar tissue can form and interrupt normal blood flow through the liver, compromising or disabling the liver’s ability to clean the blood of toxins. The scar tissue also causes blood to pool in the vessels serving the liver, triggering them to bulge or bleed and become dangerous afflictions known as varices. Mounting blood pressure in the portal vein generates a serious condition called portal hypertension, which creates varices within the network of vessels flowing from the liver. The internal bleeding caused by varices branching to or from the liver can be fatal.
Modern technology has created an effective life-saving treatment to help bypass diseased vessels called Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt, or TIPS. TIPS is an almost painless, minimally-invasive procedure in which a shunt is inserted to create a new passage to assist blood flow through the liver, helping to restore the organ’s immune function and relieving pressure within the portal vein and other vessels serving the liver.
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