Miltiadis Krokidis

Percutaneous Vertebroplasty for Pain Management in Patients with Multiple Myeloma: Is Radiofrequency Ablation Necessary?

PurposeThis study was designed to investigate the added role of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) to vertebroplasty on the pain management of patients with multiple myeloma (MM).MethodsThirty-six patients (51–82xa0years) with vertebral localization of MM were randomly divided into two groups: 18 patients (group A) who underwent RFA and then vertebroplasty, and 18 patients (group B) who underwent only vertebroplasty. Primary endpoints were technical success and pain relief score rate measured by the visual analogue pain scores (VAS) and Roland–Morris Questionnaire (RMQ); secondary endpoint was the amount of administered analgesia. Survival and complications were compared.ResultsTechnical success was 100xa0% in both groups. The VAS score (at 24xa0h and 6xa0weeks postprocedure) decreased in equal manner for both groups from a mean of 9.1–3.4 and 2.0 for group A and from a mean of 9.3–3.0 and 2.3 for group B; RMQ mean score was 19.8 for group A and 19.9 for group B and decreased to a mean of 9.6 and 8.2 for group A and 9.5 and 8.7 for group B. The amount of medication was equally decreased in the two groups. No statistically significant difference was noted. No major complication occurred and two patients died from other causes.ConclusionsThe use of percutaneous vertebroplasty alone appears to be effective for the pain management of the patients with vertebral involvement of multiple myeloma. The use of RFA that includes cost and time does not offer any clear added benefit on the midterm pain management of such patients.

Minimally Invasive Ablation Treatment for Locally Advanced Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is an aggressive tumour with an extremely poor prognosis, which has not changed significantly during the last 30xa0years. Prolonged survival is achieved only by R0 resection with macroscopic tumour clearance. However, the majority of the cases are considered inoperable at diagnosis due to local spread or presence of metastatic disease. Chemoradiotherapy is not tolerated by all patients and still fails to prolong survival significantly; neoadjuvant treatment also has limited results on pain control or tumour downstaging. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the use of ablation therapy for the treatment of nonresectable tumours in various organs. Ablation techniques are based on direct application of chemical, thermal, or electrical energy to a tumour, which leads to cellular necrosis. With ablation, tumour cytoreduction, local control, and relief from symptoms are obtained in the majority of the patients. Inoperable cases of pancreatic adenocarcinoma have been treated by various ablation techniques in the last few years with promising results. The purpose of this review is to present the current status of local ablative therapies in the treatment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma and to investigate on the efficiency and the future trends.

Percutaneous Minimally Invasive Treatment of Malignant Biliary Strictures: Current Status

The concept of percutaneous management of malignant biliary obstruction has not significantly changed in the last two decades and is based on the successful drainage of bile toward the duodenum, which normalizes liver function and prevents the development of cholangitis and sepsis. However, patient survival has changed slightly in the last two decades due to the advance of the diagnostic methods, chemo-radiotherapy protocols, and minimally invasive local control of the disease. Bare metal stents have not improved; however, newly developed covered biliary stents have been designed, and there is now evidence supporting their use in the clinical practice. However, other novel devices that may potentially offer benefit to patients with malignant biliary obstruction have been developed, such as drug-eluting biliary stents and intraductal ablation devices, and first feasibility trials have been published that offer encouraging results. These new technological developments, in combination with increased patient survival, bring new exciting data in this constantly developing area. The purpose of this review article is to investigate the latest published evidence on percutaneous minimal invasive palliation of malignant biliary disease and to delineate current trends.

Current Status of Interventional Radiology in the Management of Gastro-Entero-Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumours (GEP-NETs)

Within the group of Gastro-Entero-Pancreatic Neuroendocrine tumours (GEP-NETs), several heterogeneous malignancies are included with a variety of clinical manifestations and imaging characteristics. Often these cases are inoperable and minimal invasive treatment offered by image-guided procedures appears to be the only option. Interventional radiology offers a valid solution in the management of primary and metastatic GEP-NETs. The purpose of this review article is to describe the current status of the role of Interventional Radiology in the management of GEP-NETs.

Management of renal arteriovenous malformations: A pictorial review.

BackgroundArteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are communications between an artery and a vein outside the capillary level. This pathologic communication may be either a fistula, a simple communication between a single artery and a dilated vein, or a more complex communication, a nidus of tortuous channels between one or more arteries/arterioles and one or more draining veins. The latter type of lesion is most frequently seen in the extremities; in the kidney they tend to appear more rarely. The most common clinical presentation of renal arteriovenous malformations (RAVMs) is haematuria. Percutaneous treatment with selective endovascular techniques offers a minimally invasive, nephron-sparing option in comparison to the more invasive surgical approaches. The purpose of this pictorial review is to highlight the general lines of management and to show the range of imaging findings of the percutaneous treatment of RAVMs.MethodsThe imaging characteristics of a selection of cases of percutaneously managed congenital RAVMs are presented and the most common lines of approach are discussed.ConclusionThe imaging spectrum of diagnosis and percutaneous treatment of RAVMs is presented in order to aid interpretation and endovascular management.Teaching points• Renal arteriovenous malformations are very rare lesions.• Clinical expression is usually haematuria.• Diagnosis is made with CT or MRI but the gold standard is digital subtraction angiography.• Catheter-directed treatment with the use of coils or liquid embolics is minimally invasive, safe and effective.

The Role of Interventional Radiology in the Diagnosis and Management of Male Impotence

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is defined as the persistent inability to reach or maintain penile rigidity enough for sexual satisfaction. Nearly 30% of the men between ages 40 and 70xa0years are affected by ED. A variety of pathologies, including neurological, psychological, or endocrine disorders and drug side effects, may incite ED. A commonly identified cause of ED is vascular disease. Initial diagnostic workup includes a detailed physical examination and laboratory tests. Whilst duplex ultrasound is considered the first-line diagnostic modality, intra-arterial digital subtraction angiography is still considered the “gold standard” for the diagnosis of arteriogenic impotence. Percutaneous endovascular treatment may be offered in patients with vasculogenic ED that has failed to respond to oral medical therapy as an alternative to penile prosthesis or open surgical repair. In arteriogenic ED balloon angioplasty of the aorto-iliac axis, and in veno-occlusive ED, percutaneous venous ablation using various embolization materials has been reported to be safe and to improve sexual performance. Recently, the ZEN study investigated the safety and feasibility of drug-eluting stents for the treatment of arteriogenic ED attributed to internal pudendal artery stenosis with promising preliminary results. This manuscript highlights the role of interventional radiology in the diagnosis and minimally invasive treatment of male impotence.

Correlation of radiographic thoracic area and oxygenation impairment in bronchopulmonary dysplasia

We hypothesized that radiographically-assessed hyperinflation in bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is related to the degree of oxygenation impairment. Our objective was to explore the relation of chest radiographic thoracic area (CRTA) with right-to-left shunt, right shift of the oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve and ventilation/perfusion ratio (VA/Q) in infants with BPD. Twenty-two infants born at median (IQR) gestation of 26 (24-28) weeks with BPD were prospectively studied at 39 (30-69) days. Inspired oxygen (FiO2) was varied to obtain transcutaneous oxygen saturation (SpO2) values between 85 and 96%. Shunt, shift and VA/Q were derived by plotting and analysing pairs of SpO2 and FiO2. CRTA was measured by free hand-tracing the perimeter of the thoracic area in anterio-posterior chest radiographs. Median (IQR) shunt was 8 (1-14)%, shift was 13 (11-19)kPa and VA/Q 0.42 (0.30-0.48). Median (IQR) CRTA/kg was 2495 (1962-2838)mm(2) and was significantly related to shift (r=0.674, p<0.001), VA/Q (r=-0.633, p<0.001), weight at study (r=-0.457, p=0.003) and day of life (r=-0.406, p=0.009), but not to shunt. CRTA in BPD is significantly related to oxygenation impairment as quantified by shift and VA/Q. CRTA can be used as a simple radiographic test to quantify BPD severity.

Fluoroscopic-guided insertion of self-expanding metal stents for malignant gastroduodenal outlet obstruction: immediate results and clinical outcomes

Background Application of self-expanding metal stents (SEMS) to treat patients suffering from malignant gastroduodenal outlet obstruction (GDOO) is today considered a well-recognized palliative treatment. Use of SEMS has emerged as an attractive alternative to surgical treatment of such patients. Purpose To report the immediate and the mid-term clinical outcomes from a series of consecutive patients treated with exclusively fluoroscopic-guided insertion of SEMS. Material and Methods This was a retrospective study including patients suffering from GDOO that were either ineligible for or unwilling to undergo surgery. Patients with potentially curable disease, uncorrectable coagulopathy, gastrointestinal perforation, sepsis, presence of distal small bowel obstruction, and bowel ischemia were excluded. Technical success, clinical success, and major complications were calculated. In addition, stent migration, stent re-obstruction, restenosis, and overall re-interventions due to recurrent symptoms were considered. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used for patient survival estimation while both bivariable and multivariable analysis were performed to identify any independent predictors of outcomes. Results Fifty-one patients, (mean age, 63.73u2009±u200915.62 years) met the study’s criteria and were included in the final analysis. Technical and clinical success were 90.19% (nu2009=u200946/51) and 91.30% (nu2009=u200942/46), respectively. Major complications rate was 3.92%. Stent migration was noted in four cases. Restenosis and re-obstruction rates were 19.57% and 10.87%, respectively. No cases of peri-procedural mortality were noted, while Kaplan-Meier estimates for 1- and 2-year survival were 16.8% and 7.2%, respectively. Clinically successful cases and patients with primary GI tumor were related with more favorable survival compared to unsuccessful and patients suffering from GDOO due to extrinsic compression by neoplastic or lymph node disease. Conclusion Exclusively fluoroscopically inserted SEMS for GDOO is safe and highly effective method for palliative treatment.

The endovascular approach for in-stent restenosis in femoropopliteal disease

In-stent restenosis remains one of the main drawbacks of stenting the femoropopliteal segment, and leads to stent failure and repeated interventions. A variety of endovascular techniques have been investigated so far to reduce this phenomenon, including plain angioplasty, atherectomy, new stent deployment, cutting balloons and cryoplasty but without satisfactory mid- and long-term results. More recently drug-eluting devices have been applied in femoropopliteal in-stent restenosis with promising results. The aim of this review is to analyse the indication and effectiveness of those endovascular techniques for the treatment of in-stent restenosis.

Open and Endovascular Treatment of Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus II D Aortoiliac Occlusive Lesions: What Determines the Rate of Restenosis?

Background:Open surgery is the preferred approach for the treatment of type D lesions according to the Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus (TASC) II guideline, but endovascular solutions also appear to be a valid option in selected patients. The study aimed to identify the risk factors of restenosis after open and endovascular reconstruction of symptomatic TASC II D aortoiliac occlusive lesions (AIOLs). Methods:Fifty-six patients (82 limbs) who underwent open repair and endovascular treatment (ET) for symptomatic TASC &Igr;&Igr; D AIOLs between March 2005 and December 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. Baseline characteristics, preoperative and postoperative imaging, and operation procedure reports were reviewed and analyzed. Restenosis after revascularization was assessed by duplex ultrasound or computed tomography angiogram. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, Log-rank test, and multivariate Cox regression were used to evaluate the relevance between risk factors and patency. Results:The mean duration of follow-up was 42.8 ± 23.5 months (ranging from 3 to 90 months). Primary patency rates at 1-, 3-, 5-, and 7-year were 93.6%, 89.3%, 87.0%, and 70.3%, respectively. Restenosis after revascularization occurred in 11 limbs. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and the Log-rank test revealed that diabetes, Rutherford classification ≥5th and concurrent femoropopliteal TASC II type C/D lesions were significantly related to the duration of primary patency. According to the result of Cox regression, diabetes and femoropopliteal TASC &Igr;&Igr; type C/D lesions were identified as the risk factors for restenosis after revascularization. Conclusion:This study demonstrated that diabetes and femoropopliteal TASC &Igr;&Igr; type C/D lesions are risk factors associated with restenosis after open and ET of TASC II D AIOLs.