In the Interventional Radiology Suite
2:30 pm: Interventional Radiologists Begin a Procedure
At 2:30 pm, radiologists John Racadio, MD, and Neil Johnson, MD, are in the interventional imaging suite, positioning a 10-year-old boy on the exam table. They are about to repair an aneurysm that is preventing normal blood flow to the boy's transplant kidney and damaging the organ. The radiologists found the aneurysm minutes earlier, using new, advanced imaging technology.
They inserted a catheter in an artery in the child's groin, threaded it into his transplant kidney and injected dye. Then they took X-rays of his kidney, using state-of-the-art scanning equipment that rotates 180 degrees, taking 120 pictures in one sweep.
Within three minutes, a computer reconstructed data from the 120 separate pictures and created a three-dimensional digital image of the child's transplant kidney and blood vessels.
The process is called rotational angiography — and it produces images that have never been available to doctors before. The three-dimensional images reveal anatomy with incredible accuracy, helping physicians pinpoint problems and gain the most precise understanding of anatomy and blood flow.
Today the doctors will rely on these images as they repair the aneurysm.
Working with great precision, they insert a microcatheter into the damaged blood vessel and fill the aneurysm with microcoils. Within minutes, blood sticks to the coils and forms a clot, stopping blood flow through this weakened area.
The boy will spend the night in the hospital but should be able to go home tomorrow. The alternative to this minimally invasive procedure would have been major surgery.
