Interventional Radiology

A stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is interrupted, reduced or cut off. Within minutes of a stroke, brain cells begin to die and cause the person to experience sudden symptoms that may include numbness, tingling, vision changes, trouble speaking, and confusion. Prompt treatment is critical and can minimize brain damage. Our board-certified interventional radiologists provide minimally invasive stroke treatments including:

• Catheter-Directed Thrombolytic Therapy – Through a tiny incision, your interventional radiologist is able to direct a catheter to the brain clot and deliver a thrombolytic agent to dissolve it, restoring the opening of the blood vessel.
• Endovascular Coil Treatment – For aneurysms, a coil is placed at the site of the aneurysm via catheter. The coil induces clotting of the aneurysm with the goal of decreasing the likelihood of the aneurysm bursting and causing a stroke.

​For patients undergoing dialysis due to kidney failure, we offer a range of procedures to improve or re-establish flow through a dialysis fistula. These include angioplasty, stenting, and infusion of thrombolytic medication that allow patients to continue hemodialysis without interruption.

The endocrine system is a collection of glands that produce hormones that regulate metabolism, growth and development, tissue function, sexual function, reproduction, sleep, and mood, and more. It includes the pituitary gland, thyroid gland, parathyroid glands, adrenal glands, pancreas, ovaries (in females), and testicles (in males).

For patients with abnormal hormone levels, interventional radiology offers a diagnostic option known as sampling to draw blood samples for laboratory analysis. Two of the procedure available at UConn Health are:

• Adrenal Venous/Vein Sampling – Blood samples are taken from the veins of the adrenal glands to guide treatment for a number of disorders. Read more.
• Inferior Petrosal Sinus Sampling – A procedure in which adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels are sampled from the veins that drain the pituitary gland. These levels are compared with ACTH levels in the peripheral blood to determine whether a pituitary tumor is responsible for ACTH-dependent Cushing's Syndrome/Disease.

Gastroenterology (GI) is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. Diseases affecting the gastrointestinal tract, which include the organs from the mouth to the anus, are the focus of this speciality. Interventional radiologists play an important role in GI diagnosis and treatment to offer minimally invasive options that may allow patients to avoid traditional, open surgery. Two of the related procedures we perform at UConn Health are:

• Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG Tube) Placement – The placement of a flexible feeding tube through the abdominal wall and into the stomach to allow nutrition, fluids, and medications to be placed directly into the stomach, bypassing the mouth and esophagus.
• Biliary Interventions – The treatment of blockages, narrowing, or injury of the passages between the liver, gallbladder, and small intestine called bile ducts. Read more.

A range of treatment options are available for cancer patients who are not candidates for surgical treatments, don’t want surgery, or whose cancer does not respond to cancer drugs:

• Ascites Management – The removal of abdominal fluid or placement of a catheter to allow at-home drainage.
• Biopsy Procedures – Tthe removal of tissue from part of the body to examine it for disease.
• Chemoembolization – The targeted delivery of cancer-killing medication through a catheter to the affected organ to decrease blood flow in the arteries that supply the cancer.
• Cryoablation – The emission of extremely cold temperatures at the location of the tumor to destroy cancer cells.
• Mediport Placement – Placement of a port to provide access to your blood vessels for medications such as chemotherapy and tests.
• Microwave Ablation – The use of electromagnetic waves to destroy cancer cells.
• Palliative Pain Management – A range of procedures to provide symptomatic relief for cancer patients, especially those who may not be candidates for more invasive options.
• Radiofrequency Ablation – The use of electric current, which is transformed into heat, to destroy the cancer cells.
• Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT) – Also known as Y-90, this procedure is the injection of small spheres of radioactive substance into the blood vessels supplying the tumor.

Read more.

Your spine is a complex and remarkable combination of bones, ligaments and tendons, large muscles, and highly sensitive nerves. We often take it for granted until we experience neck or back pain.

Interventional radiology offers a range of minimally invasive treatments for patients suffering for spine pain. Here are some of the procedures that we specialize in at UConn Health:

• Epidural Steroid Injections – An injection to deliver steroids directly into the epidural space in the spine. Sometimes additional fluid is used to flush out inflammatory mediators that may be a source of pain.
• Facet/Sacroiliac Joint Injections – The injection of a steroid-anesthetic mixture to diagnose and provide therapeutic pain relief.
• Nerve Ablation – An electrical current produced by a radio wave is used to heat up a small area of nerve tissue and decrease pain signals from that specific area.
• Tumor Ablation – A minimally invasive method to treat cancers by using probes that can “burn” or “freeze” the cancer. An injection of bone cement may be used to reduce the risk of fracture, improve mobility, and decrease pain.
• Vertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty – Treatment using cement injections for painful spinal compression fractures which are a common result of osteoporosis. Read more.

A uterine fibroid (leiomyoma) is a tumor that occurs in the muscle cells of the uterus. These growths are not typically dangerous and do not spread to other regions of the body, but they can cause uterine pain, heavy menstrual bleeding, abdominal enlargement, pain with intercourse, constipation, and frequent urination.

Treatment for uterine fibroids is called uterine fibroid embolization (UFE). During this procedure, your interventional radiologist accesses the blood vessel carrying nutrients to the tumor through a small incision in the groin. Small particles are released at the targeted location to block the small vessels and deprive the fibroid of nutrients, resulting in the fibroid shrinking in size. Approximately nine out of 10 patients who undergo uterine fibroid embolization will experience significant improvement, or their symptoms will go away completely.

Varicose veins are swollen, enlarged veins that are visible under the surface of the skin. For some people, they cause pain, blood clots, or sores. Varicose veins occur when the one-way valves that keep blood flowing toward your heart are weak or damaged, resulting in blood that backs up and pools in your veins, causing them to swell.

• Endovenous Laser Ablation Treatment (EVLT) – EVLT uses heat to close off problematic veins and relieve the symptoms they cause.
• Sclerotherapy – The direct injection of a chemical irritant by tiny needle into a vein to close the vessel. This technique is often used to treat smaller veins.

Vascular conditions affect the veins and arteries in your body that carry oxygen to your cells. Blockages can occur in all arteries with serious effects. Interventional radiology offers a number of treatments that include, but aren't limited to:

• Evaluation & Treatment of Leg Claudication & Ischemia – Treatment to re-establish blood flow to the affected area to avoid tissue damage and loss of limbs.
• Venous Ulcer Treatment – For patients who develop venous ulcers related to Post-Thrombotic Syndrome, we offer treatment with the aid of intravascular ultrasound and stent placement.