Do I need a referral to see a vascular interventional radiologist?

If necessary, your primary care provider will refer you to our team.

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What kind of conditions do they treat?

Vascular diseases

• Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD): condition occurs due to narrowed arteries reducing blood flow to arms and/or legs; Treatment may include: procedures for stenting/angioplasty

• Critical limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI): a severe form of PAD, which puts you at a higher risk for amputation; Treatment may include: limb salvage and amputation prevention require increasing blood flow to limbs with use of balloons, guidewires, catheters

• Aortic disease:
  • Thoracic aortic aneurysm: when a section of the aorta, the main blood vessel, deteriorates, it can rupture causing bleeding. Treatment may include: conventional surgery, grafts
  • Abdominal aortic aneurysm: an aneurysm is when a blood vessel dilates like a balloon. Often, there are no symptoms; Treatment may include: lifestyle changes, medication, open surgery, endovascular repair; stent-grafts to keep the aneurysm from enlarging
  • Occlusive arterial disease: when arteries narrow due to build-up or disease, blood flow to the heart can be restricted; Treatment may include: stent, angioplasty, open surgery

• Stroke: when blood vessels become blocked or burst, a stroke can occur; Treatment may include: endovascular thrombectomies, carotid artery angioplasty and stenting, and cerebral aneurysm coiling and stenting

• Carotid artery disease: occurs when plaque clogs the two carotid arteries on either side of the neck, which deliver blood to the brain and head; Treatment may include: TCAR and endovascular stenting, and endarterectomies to remove plaque from arteries due to carotid disease

• Deep vein thrombosis (DVT): blood clots form in deep body veins, usually the legs; Treatment may include: catheter-directed thrombolysis, thrombectomy, venoplasty, and stenting with the goal of treating and preventing post-thrombotic syndrome and chronic venu

• Pulmonary embolism: blood clots that start in a deep vein in the leg and travel to the lung; Treatment may include: thrombolysis and thrombectomy

• Varicose veins: bulging, enlarged veins caused by pooling blood due to weakened valves; Treatment may include: minimally invasive options like catheter or laser treatment to seal off bulging veins and reduce or eliminate symptoms

Interventional oncology

• Ablation: using continuous imaging guidance and a needle, extreme heat or cold is used to destroy cancer cells

• Embolization: using either chemo or radiation, treatment is delivered directly to the cancer tumor though the blood vessels

• Pain and palliation

• • Cancer-related pain: a nerve block medication can be injected using an image-guided catheter

• • Malignant Pleural Effusion and Ascites: draining of fluid that collects around the lung or heart

• Tumor biopsy: a needle is guided to obtain a tissue sample by using CT, ultrasound, or X-ray

• Kyphoplasty (spine tumors) and ablation: cement is injected into the collapsed vertebra; often used with radiofrequency ablation to destroy the tumor

Men’s health

• Enlarged prostate: Men who experience an enlarged prostate (also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH) may have discomfort such as difficult, frequent or urgent urination, as well as recurrent urinary tract infections. Prostate artery embolization is a non-surgical treatment option that improves lower urinary tract symptoms with minimal pain and down time.

• Varicocele: A varicocele is an enlarged vein that can cause pain and increase the chances of male infertility. A varicocele embolization is a simple and quick one-hour procedure that can help resolve these issues.

Women’s health

• Uterine fibroids: Women who have these non-cancerous tumors may experience a wide variety of symptoms such as pain, heavy bleeding and loss of bladder control. A uterine artery embolization is a minimally invasive procedure to resolve these symptoms without undergoing surgery (like a hysterectomy) and also preserve fertility.

• Pelvic congestion syndrome: Women diagnosed with this condition experience chronic pelvic pain due to ovarian or pelvic varicose veins. Our vascular interventional radiologists are trained in ovarian vein embolization, a procedure typically performed on an outpatient basis, and patients can return to normal activity in a few days.

Gastrointestinal health

• Hemorrhoids: Many people may experience hemorrhoids in their life, but sometimes they become very large and can cause bleeding, discomfort and impact your quality of life. If standard methods of treatment do not work, Beacon’s interventional radiologists offer hemorrhoid artery embolization – a minimally invasive, safe and highly effective treatment that shrinks the hemorrhoidal tissue by blocking its blood supply.

• Liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension: Cirrhosis causes scar tissue to build up on the liver and prevents it from filtering toxins from the blood. This can lead to portal hypertension, which is high blood pressure resulting from reduced blood flow. Our providers offer several minimally invasive options that can make new connections between blood vessels in the liver (TIPS), or medication is injected into blood vessels to stop blood flow (BRTO).

• Biliary disease (obstructions or stones): This condition affects the organs responsible for the transportation of bile, many times caused by gallstones, and can interrupt the body’s natural process. Vascular interventional radiologists can use catheters to drain excess bile and reduce uncomfortable symptoms.

• Gastrointestinal bleeding: Bleeding within the digestive track can be serious if left untreated. Beacon’s vascular interventionalists can perform embolization procedures to stop bleeding.