Cardiovascular disease and cancer are the most common causes of death in Austria. Interventional radiology focuses on both the diagnosis and treatment of these conditions. These new options also play a decisive role when it comes to treating high-risk surgical patients.
“There are 1,282 radiologists in Austria (status: Oct. 2016), 10 percent of whom specialise in interventional radiology, which means that they not only provide diagnoses, but are also involved in treating and permanently monitoring patients using medical imaging procedures. In Austria, there is one interventional radiology centre in each province that offers this kind of expertise. In light of the trend towards functional, biological and genetic imaging, the significance of radiology in the diagnosis and treatment of disease is growing all the time,” explained Prof. Klaus A. Hausegger, Chairman of the Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology in Klagenfurt and President-Elect of the Austrian Roentgen Society.
Improved treatment outcomes thanks to interventional radiology
With the support of x-rays, CT, MRT and sonography it is now possible to offer patients evennmore precise and efficient treatments, particularly when it comes to the vascular system and local cancer therapies: “The use of imaging makes it easier for us to set our sights on the ‘target’. In other words we can use probes to open vessels or pinpoint and treat tumours. And to shrink them we heat them up, bombard them with microwaves or freeze them. Innovative treatment forms such as transarterial chemoembolisation and selective internal radiation therapy mean that patients can be treated using locally administered chemotherapy and radioactive substances,” Prof. Hausegger noted.
Treating liver tumours with cytotoxic drugs
Each year around 1,000 Austrians develop liver tumours, with males aged over 60 suffering from alcohol-related cirrhosis and people with hepatitis particularly at risk. With few noticeable symptoms in the early stages of this particular form of cancer, around 70% of cases can no longer be cured by the time the disease is detected, leaving palliative care as the only option. “Such tumours can reach up to 10 centimetres before being noticed. If it is not possible to surgically remove the liver carcinoma, then interventional radiology is used. We can get to the precise location of the tumour with catheters and attempt to destroy them by exposing them to extreme heat, or using transarterial chemoembolisation to inhibit growth,” Prof. Hausegger said. The latter involves injecting cytotoxic substances into the tumour site through a catheter in the liver artery. The vessel is subsequently blocked with an embolic agent to starve the tumour of its blood supply
Stroke: time is brain!
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Austria. Stroke is life-threatening in 10 percent of men and 6 percent of women aged over 60. In acute stroke therapy, interventional radiologists take emergency measures immediately after diagnosis. The aim here is to remove the blood clots blocking major vessels in the brain as quickly as possible. With an ischemic stroke, blockage of one or several blood vessels in the brain
results in the death of brain tissue. “This applies to 10-15% of stroke patients. ‘Time is brain’ is the watchword in stroke diagnosis, as for every half hour that passes without the thrombus being removed, the chance of saving the brain tissue drops by 9%,” Prof. Hausegger added. Miniature cannulas are used to remove the blood clot and re-establish the supply of oxygen, “helping us to improve the chance of recovery by at least 50%.”
