Pulmonary artery interventions: an overview

Interventional radiologists should be familiar with minimally invasive procedures used to treat various abnormalities of the pulmonary arteries. These well-established techniques, which obviate open surgery, are safe and effective when performed by an experienced interventionalist. Catheter-based thrombolysis with intrapulmonary arterial infusion of thrombolytic drugs, percutaneous thrombectomy, or embolus fragmentation can be performed in patients with life-threatening pulmonary embolism. Pulmonary artery stenoses, mainly encountered in patients with pulmonary vasculitis (as in Behçet disease or Takayasu arteritis), may be treated with balloon angioplasty and stent placement. Transcatheter embolization of pulmonary arteriovenous malformation is the standard treatment for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia and is a very effective alternative to surgery to correct an aneurysm or pseudoaneurysm. In cases of hemoptysis that originates in the pulmonary artery, early diagnosis is mandatory for treatment with embolization. Percutaneous retrieval of foreign bodies from the heart or the pulmonary arteries and endovascular biopsy should also be part of the armamentarium of interventional radiologists.