South Florida Vascular Associates performs transcatheter embolization procedures – a minimally invasive treatment for renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer).
During a transcatheter embolization, your doctor uses X-ray guidance to insert a catheter from an artery in the groin or arm into the artery supplying the affected kidney. An occluding agent made of biodegradable or inert particles is administered into the blood vessels leading to the tumor. The particles shut down blood supply to the tumor, which deprives the tumor of oxygen and helps to shrink it.
Larger kidney tumors or those with a large blood supply are often pretreated in this manner to improve the uniformity and safety of the ablation procedure. This procedure is very safe and can be done on an outpatient basis in our Broward and Palm Beach County offices under conscious sedation.