Interventional Radiology

A blood clot is a semisolid mass of coagulated blood that forms in an artery or vein decreasing or stopping blood from flowing through a blood vessel. Once these clots form they can travel to other parts of your body causing harm to vital organs. Risk factors for blood clots forming may include smoking, prolonged immobility, surgery, certain heart conditions, high blood pressure, high colesterol, diabetes and trauma or local injury.

Cancer is a genetic disease - that is, it is caused by changes to genes that control the way our cells function, especially how they grow and divide. A malignant growth or tumor results from uncontrolled cellular mitosis where the body's cells divide without stopping and spread into surrounding tissues. There are more than 100 types of known cancer, usually named for the organs or tissues where the cancer originates. 

For more information on our Oncology services please visit LovelaceCancerCenter.com.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) occurs when a blood clot forms in one or more of the veins in the body. The blood clots of DVT can be caused by anything that prevents blood from circulating or clotting normally, such as injury to a vein, surgery, certain medications and limited movement. 

Fibroids are abnormal growths of tissue that develop in or on a woman's uterous; they are the most frequently seen tumors of the female reproductive system and are typically benign, or noncancerous. Most women do not report symptoms, but those that do include heavy menstrual bleeding, prolonged menstrual periods, pelvic pressure or pain, frequent urination, backache or leg pain.

By inserting a catheter directly into the arteries that feed the fibroids and injecting beads to block the blood supply we can ease the symptoms and bleeding.

A needle biopsy is a procedure to obtain a sample of cells from tissue or fluid samples from muscles, bones or other organs such as the liver or lungs for further testing.

For an alternative to pain relief, injections directly to the location can be more effective than oral medication. Typically, a steroid medication is injected precisely around the nerves to deliver a powerful anti-inflammatory to the area that is the source of pain in order to calm nerve pain. 

Pelvic congestion syndrome is a chronic pain caused by an accumulation of blood in the veins in the lower abdomen. The condition is found in women and causes chronic pain, often manifesting as a constant dull ache, which can be aggravated by standing.

Prostate artery embolization (PAE) is a new treatment option for men with enlarged prostate glands that are noncancerous. In order to relieve the symptoms of PAE a catheter is placed in the prostate artery and beads are injected to block off arteries to the prostate. This can help men who are experiencing trouble urinating and pain with urination. Following the procedure, men can be freed of symptoms within days or weeks. 

A serious complication associated with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is pulmonary embolism. A pulmonary embolism occurs when a blood vessel in the lungs becomes blocked by a blood clot that travels to the lung from another part of the body. 

Uterine artery embolization (UAE) is used to treat fibroid tumors of the uterus. Fibroid tumors can cause heavy menstrual bleeding, pain and pressure on the bladder or bowel. The interventional radiologist uses a catheter to deliver small particles that block the blood supply to the fibroid in the uterus causing them to shrink and symptoms to diminish.

Varicoceles are a common abnormality of enlarged veins found in the scrotum and are similar to varicose veins. The enlargement of these veins may develop as a result of poorly functioning valves that are normally found in veins or from compression of a vein by a nearby structure. Varicoceles often produces no symptoms but can cuase low sperm production and decreased sperm quality, leading to infertility. 

A vertebral compression fracture occuers when the block-like part of an individual vertebra becomes compressed due to osteoporosis, trauma or diseases affecting bone. This compression fracture can cause pain in the back or neck, numbness, tingling and weakness in the extremities or a hunched-forward posture.

A vertebroplasty injects cement into the spinal fracture to stabalize the bone and help aleviate pain. 

Vertebroplasty is a procedure used to treat and stabilize painful vertebral compression fractures in the spine. Bone cement is injected into the vertebrae that have cracked or broken and the hardened cement stabilized the fracture and supports the spinal collumn. 

Blood cancers
Some bone cancers begin forming in the blood-creating cells known as bone marrow. The most common bone marrow cancers are multiple myeloma and leukemia.

Bone cancer
Sarcomas are tumors found in the bone itself and start in bone, muscle, fibrous tissue, blood vessels fat tissues and tissue.

Bone metastases
Often bone cancer is diagnosed because the cancer has originated in another part of the body and spread to the bones. This can occur with many different types of advanced cancer such as breast cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer.

Noncancerous bone tumors
Some tumors that start in the bone are benign and do not spread to other tissues and organs. These tumors are usually not considered life threatening and can often be removed with surgery or tumor ablation.

For more information on our Oncology services please visit LovelaceCancerCenter.com.

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The kidney's main job is to filter the blood coming in from the renal arteries to remove excess water, salt and waste products. The kidneys also help control blood pressure and ensure the body has enough red blood cells. Kidney cancer, or renal cancer, is a disease that first begins by forming a tumor in the lining of tiny tubes within the kidney.

Treatment Option:

Kidney cancer ablation is performed through a tiny incision in the patient's back, allowing direct access to the tumor. The physician then uses a specially designed needle to provide extreme cold or extreme heat to the tumor site. 

For more information on our Oncology services please visit LovelaceCancerCenter.com.

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Benign liver tumors typically do not grow into nearby tissue or spread to distant parts of the body, but they can grow large enough to cause problems. These tumors usually start in the blood vessels and can typically be removed with surgery or tumor ablation. Primary liver cancer starts in the liver and either begins as a single tumor that grows larger or as multiple small nodules throughout the liver. Most of the time when cancer is found in the liver it started somewhere else in the body such as the pancreas, colon, stomach, breast or lung, and has spread to the liver.

Treatment Options:

Chemoembolization delivers chemotherapy directly into a tumor via a small catheter through the artery leading to the liver. Bead-like particles loaded with chemotherapy are then released through the catheter directly to the tumor site where they will release the drug slowly over a period of time. By targeting the tumor directly, the patient experiences fewer side effects than that of traditional chemotherapy treatment. 

Radioembolization (Y-90), much like chemoembolization, directly targets treatment to the tumor site by using beads loaded with high-dose radiation. This approach also reduces damage to healthy tissues by targeting the radiation exposure exclusively to the tumor. 

Ablation uses energy in the form of extreme heat (microwave alation) or RFA (high radiofrequency energy) to destroy the cancerous cells in the liver. With a specially designed needle the physician can pass the energy onto the precise location of the cancer and avoid damage to the normal liver tissue. 

For more information on our Oncology services please visit LovelaceCancerCenter.com.

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Smoking is the strongest risk factor for lung cancer in the United States, the risk of developing lung cancer increases with the length of time and number of cigarettes smoked. Lung cancer in non-smokers can be caused by exposure to radon, secondhand smoke, air pollution or other factions. Workplace exposures to asbestos, diesel exhaust or other chemicals can also cause lung cancer.Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common type of lung cancer.

Treatment Option:

An ablation is performed through a tiny incision in the chest, allowing the physician to access the tumor directly. A needle is then used to deliver extreme cold or extreme heat to the tumor site. This focused treatment avoids damage to the normal lung tissue. 

To schedule a low dose lung ct scan please visit our lung screening page.

Cancer cells can spread locally by moving into nearby normal tissue or regionally, to nearby lymph nodes, tissues or organs. It can also spread to distant parts of the body, when this happens, it's called metastic cancer. The most common sites where cancer spreads are the bone, lung and liver.

For more information on our Oncology services please visit LovelaceCancerCenter.com.