Interventional Procedures

Ruptured Aneurysms Treated by Endovascular Aneurysm Repair (EVAR)
Author: William Charles Loan MB BCh BAO FRCR
Despite advances in surgical and intensive care techniques, the mortality rates from abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture remain high, with the condition causing approximately 10,000 deaths per year in the United Kingdom[1]. Since its first description in 1994, endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) ..... Read more...

Percutaneous device closure for patent foramen ovale
Author: Sam Firoozi and Stephen J Brecker
The patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a very common anatomical variant of the interatrial septum and is associated with a number of paradoxical embolism syndromes including cryptogenic stroke, decompression illness in divers and migraine with visual aura. Read more...

The use of drug eluting stents for coronary artery disease
Author: Peter Barlis, MBBS, MPH, FRACP Jun Tanigawa, MD, Carlo Di Mario, MD, PhD
The growth in the availability and use of drug eluting stents has seen the interventional cardiologist tackle more lesions with increasing complexity and in higherrisk patients. Read more...

Management of bifurcation lesions
Author: Azeem Latib and Antonio Colombo
Coronary bifurcations are frequently encountered by interventional cardiologists and remain a challenging subset of lesions to treat. Recent advances in percutaneous coronary intervention and the introduction of drug-eluting stents have dramatically improved our ability to successfully treat patients percutaneously, with improved long-term results. Read more...

Left main stem stenting
Author: Anthony H Gershlick
Percutaneous treatment of obstructive coronary disease has, for a number of years, been undertaken more commonly than the coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). Technical developments, operator skill and the advent of drug-eluting stents has meant that most lesions can be treated effectively with little associated morbidity and with rapid patient discharge. Read more...

Endovascular vein treatment (ELVeS™) for chronic venous insufficiency from varicose disease of lower limbs with reviparin sodium thromboprophylaxis
Author: Dimitris Kontothanassis, Giuseppe Camporese, Alberto Scuro, Andrea Griso, Roberto Di Mitri
Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is a consequence of varicose disease (VD) or post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS). The cost of both diagnosis and treatment are high and the condition causes significant loss of working hours and impairs quality of life. Read more...

Management of endoleaks following endovascular aneurysm repair
Author: John Rose and Robin Williams
The term endoleak was defined in 1996 as the persistent perfusion of the aneurysm sac after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) due to the incomplete sealing or exclusion of the aneurysm sac or vessel segment. An endoleak implies failure to exclude the aneurysm and the patient ... Read more...

Review of antithrombotic therapy for percutaneous coronary interventions
Author: Pierre Aubry,MD, Mohamed Majdoub,MD, Antoine Sauguet, MD
Antithrombotic therapy is a cornerstone in the management of acute coronary syndromes and plays a major role during percutaneous coronary interventions. Numerous antithrombotic agents are currently available, showing synergistic effects in combination. Read more...

Radiofrequency ablation of lung tumours
Author: Riccardo Lencioni
Image-guided percutaneous radiofrequency (RF) ablation is a minimally invasive technique for the treatment of solid tumours that has been introduced into clinical practice relatively recently. It is now considered a feasible treatment option for patients with primary hepatocellular cancer or limited liver metastases. Read more...

Use of cerebral protection during carotid artery stenting
Author: Bernhard Reimers
Carotid artery stenting (CAS) is emerging as a less invasive alternative to carotid endarterectomy, although embolic neurological events occur invariably during CAS. Read more...

Renovascular hypertension 3: Intervention
Author: Thomas Roeren
Renovascular hypertension (RHT) caused by renal artery stenosis (RAS) accounts for only 1-5% of all cases of arterial hypertension, but is the leading cause for secondary hypertension. Read more...

Sparing the nephron: CO₂ angiography and intervention
Author: Jai V Patel, David O Kessel and Kate Grayson
With improvements in digital data acquisition and manipulation equipment, CO₂ has become a cheap, safe and effective alternative contrast agent in patients with contraindications to conventional iodinated contrast media. Read more...

Patient selection and imaging assessment for abdominal aortic aneurysm stent grafting
Author: Michel Nonent, Ali Badra and Pierre Gouny
Endovascular repair using stent-grafts for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) is becoming increasingly employed worldwide. Imaging has great importance in the assessment of AAAs and in decision-making. Read more...

Management of left main coronary artery disease: CABG is still the best therapy
Author: David P. Taggart
This article reviews the pathophysiology of left main stem stenosis and the rationale for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and stenting. Read more...

Subintimal angioplasty
Author: Michael J. Glasby, George Markose and Amman Bolia
The technique of subintimal angioplasty (SIA) has been in use for approximately two decades and is a suitable alternative to bypass surgery. Read more...

Current and future developments in the endovascular repair of aortic aneurysms
Author: Richard G McWilliams
The purpose of this article is to document and assess the current developments in endovascular aneurysm repair. Read more...

Drug-eluting beads: a new opportunity in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma
Author: Katerina Malagari
Drug-eluting beads represent a new technology in selective locoregional treatment. Doxorubicin-eluting beads have been tested in vitro and in vivo and the first results of clinical series are being released. Read more...

Radiofrequency ablation in the management of spinal pain
Author: Menno E. Sluijter MD, PhD
Radiofrequency treatment has traditionally been regarded as an ablative method, blocking the conduction of nociceptive stimuli to the spinal cord. This concept has been challenged and the mode of action may not be exclusively thermal. Read more...

Vascular access site complications after PCI: An update and trans-radial approach in perspective
Author: Martial Hamon
Major bleeding, currently the most common non-cardiac complication after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been associated with an increased risk of long term mortality, and this relationship may be causal. Therefore, reducing the frequency of bleeding events ... Read more...

Port implantation
Author: Mykhaylo Burbelko and Hans-Joachim Wagner
Subcutaneous ports are advantageous for long-term central venous access, especially in patients who receive chemotherapy for malignancy or undergo an intravenous therapy over several weeks. Read more...

Percutaneous nephrostomy and antegrade ureteric stenting
Author: Tze Wah
The past 30 years have seen a remarkable increase in interventional uroradiological procedures. There is now a wide variety of procedures for patients who require long-term urinary drainage with percutaneous nephrostomy (PCN) or ureteric stenting. Read more...

Controversies and consensus in the endoluminal management of thoracic aortic dissections
Author: Tim Buckenham
Endoluminal repair of thoracic aortic dissections is an evolving technique used to exclude acute dissections where the entry point lies distal to the left subclavian. The technique is limited by paucity of data and uncertainty about long-term outcomes. Read more...

The balance of evidence for carotid artery stenting with cerebral protection
Author: Antonio Colombo and Ioannis Iakovou
Although endarterectomy is today considered the gold-standard therapy for the treatment of carotid artery stenosis, the approach is not free of complications. Carotid artery stenting (CAS) has rapidly emerged as an equivalent alternative to Read more...

Management of post-catheterisation pseudoaneurysms
Author: Graham John Munneke, Robert Morgan and Anna-Maria Belli
Post-catheterisation pseudoaneurysms (PCPA) can develop when there is inadequate haemostasis at an arterial puncture site and occur at a rate of 7.7% following catheterisation. Read more...

New stent technologies: coated, covered and bifurcated stents
Author: Chidambaram Rammohan, Ata Erdogan and Charles J. Davidson
Specific anatomic challenges and in-stent restenosis have been the impetus for new designs in stent technology. Drug-eluting stents, particularly the sirolimus-coated and paclitaxel-coated stents have shown efficacy in clinical trials. Read more...

Radiofrequency ablation: the new 'wave' therapy
Author: Riccardo Lencioni
Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a minimally invasive technique used to treat solid tumours. Following recent technological advances, RFA has gained an increasingly important role in the treatment of unresectable hepatic ... Read more...