Interventional radiology is a branch of medicine that uses a combination of radiologic imaging techniques and various devices, such as x-rays, MRI and CT, to perform minimally invasive interventions to treat conditions that involve growths, enlargements or blockages on various organs, such as the uterus or the prostate as well as in blood vessels.
An interventional radiologist is, in fact, a medical doctor such as Dr. Aaron Kovaleski specializing in the minimally invasive, targeted treatments that use the achievements of radiology. These specialists are medical school graduates who have also completed their residency and have specialized and obtained a license in interventional radiology.
There are many conditions that can be efficiently treated by interventional radiologists, the most common ones being benign prostate enlargements, uterine fibroids and blockages in larger blood vessels, especially in the carotid arteries. The methods usually involve the introduction of a catheter into the blood vessel to be treated and performing various targeted procedures to eliminate blockages or, if the treatment is intended to remove an enlargement of the prostate or a uterine fibroid, the catheter is introduced into the blood vessel that leads up to the organ affected by the growth to stop the blood flow to the growths. The treatments performed by interventional radiologists are efficient without requiring the long healing times associated with the surgical interventions that have the same purpose.
