University of Florida interventional radiologists at Shands at UF perform more portal vein embolizations a year than any program in the United States. As a result, UF surgeons are able to perform curative liver resections on patients who otherwise would not be surgical candidates.

Resections that were impossible only five or six years ago now are done routinely due to pre-operative portal vein embolization. This allows the portion of the liver that remains after the procedure to regenerate prior to surgery, said Alan Hemming, MD, UF College of Medicine professor of surgery and chief of the division of transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery.

Hemming stresses that the benefits gained from UF’s department of radiology extend far beyond portal vein embolization. Interventional radiology and body imaging play a critical role in the multidisciplinary hepatobiliary malignancy conference that meets each week to map treatment plans.

“Not only do [UF radiologists] provide every interventional radiology technique available for treating hepatocellular carcinoma and other diseases of the liver — including percutaneous radiofrequency ablation, percutaneous cryoablation, SIRTEX and standard chemo-embolization -- they also supply surgeons with every possible imaging modality available for the liver,” Hemming said.

Hemming, who requires all of his patients to have their imaging done at Shands at UF, said the superior 3-D imaging done by UF body imagers is essential in the planning of complex operations of liver resection with vascular reconstruction. Because of the pairing between imaging and planning, multidisiplinary teams at Shands at UF perform more liver surgeries with vascular reconstruction than anywhere in the country.

James Caridi, MD, UF College of Medicine associate professor of radiology and chief of the division of interventional radiology, said that a major and growing role of the body imaging division at Shands at UF is assisting surgeons in distinguishing between malignant and benign liver tumors before a biopsy is performed.

While liver imaging performed at most facilities only indicates the presence of a mass, Shands at UF utilizes MRIs with ferrite, which accurately diagnoses close to 100 percent of liver tumors without the patient undergoing a biopsy.

“This eliminates complications from biopsies and reduces the seeding of tumors prior to the procedure,” Caridi said. “It lets us know the specific type of mass we’re dealing with, its relationship to the blood supply and whether it is resectable.”

Both Hemming and Caridi agree that one of the most crucial elements in treatment is the hepatobiliary malignancy conference. Each patient’s case is presented to a group of physicians from multiple specialties to decide the best approach to treating the disease medically, surgically, with radiation or interventional radiology.

“Though the patient may only see one doctor, he or she will leave with the best treatment plan possible as designed by an entire team of liver specialists from multiple disciplines,” Caridi said.

For more information about the interventional radiology program at Shands at UF, call 352-265-7999 or toll free at 800-633-2122.

For Healthcare Professionals

Affiliations

Businesses and Insurers

Consultation Center

Continuing Medical Education

Credentialing & Provider Enrollment

Drug Information Center

Identity and Access Management

Medical Services

National Provider Identifier

Shands Medical Laboratories