Interventional Radiology for Liver Disease

Our interventional radiologists are skilled at performing life-saving procedures for patients suffering from cancer and other diseases affecting the liver.

Learn more about the interventional radiology treatment options for liver disease offered at MedStar Health below.

Portal hypertension is when scar tissue blocks blood flow from the portal vein to the hepatic veins. This can lead to enlarged stomach and esophageal veins (called varices), which are at risk for bursting and creating dangerous internal bleeding.

Balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO) is a minimally invasive procedure that can reduce the likelihood of rupture. It can be performed as a standalone treatment or as a supplement to a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) procedure.

If your bile duct is blocked by scar tissue or a tumor, your interventional radiologist may use a minimally invasive procedure called biliary drain placement to drain the built-up bile in your liver. Since biliary drain placement only involves a small nick in the skin, you can also expect less pain and fewer risks of complication than open surgery.

Similar to a biliary drain placement, biliary stent placement is used to drain built-up bile in the liver when the bile duct is blocked. Rather than using a catheter to drain the bile fluid outside of the body, biliary stent placement uses a plastic or metal tube to keep the bile duct open while the fluid drains internally.

When the bile ducts are blocked, this can cause a buildup of bile in the liver, leading to further life-threatening health complications. Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiogram (PTC) is a diagnostic procedure in which X-ray images of the bile ducts are taken with contrast dye in order to help medical teams understand where exactly the blockage has occurred.

A transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is used to treat complications of portal hypertension, which occurs when scar tissue blocks blood flow from the portal vein to the hepatic veins. Our interventional radiologists are experts in using TIPS to reduce internal bleeding with fewer risks than open surgery.

A transjugular liver biopsy can help to diagnose or confirm a diagnosis of liver disease. As a minimally invasive procedure, your interventional radiologist will remove tissue samples from the body under the guidance of advanced imaging.

Unlike traditional biopsies, a transjugular liver biopsy is conducted through the jugular vein in the neck and into a hepatic vein. This makes it a safer approach for patients with a high risk for bleeding.