Jack Miller-Ebrahimi Program for Interventional Radiology

Many of Penn’s veterinary specialists are pioneering new disciplines. This is certainly true of the Minimally Invasive Interventional Radiology and Interventional Endoscopy service at the Mathew J. Ryan Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. This is the first of its kind to be established at any veterinary teaching hospital in the country. Drs. Chick Weisse and Allyson Berent are performing minimally invasive medical and surgical techniques for such ailments as tumors, liver shunts, urinary (urethral, bladder and ureteral) stones, bile duct obstructions, tracheal collapse, and life-threatening nose bleeds. Their specialty is referred to as Interventional Radiology (IR).

An established tool in human medicine, interventional radiology has tremendous potential for the treatment of serious maladies in pets. Interventional radiology involves the use of contemporary imaging modalities to gain access to different structures in order to deliver materials for therapeutic reasons. The veterinary community is acquiring and refining similar procedures as human medicine to provide nonsurgical alternatives with decreased morbidity/mortality rates, minimal anesthesia time, reduced hospital stay, and lower costs.

Interventional radiology utilizes fluoroscopy to visualize the placement of catheters, stents, balloons, and coils into blood vessels, the urinary system, the respiratory system, and other tubular structures. Interventional endoscopy utilizes the endoscope under fluoroscopic guidance for diagnostic and therapeutic endeavors like: malignant obstructions in the urethra, ureter, bladder, common bile duct, or intestines/colon; strictures in the urinary system, nasal passages, trachea or intestine; relieving bile duct obstructions secondary to obstructive pancreatitis, choleliths, infection or tumors; and breaking down stones in the urinary or biliary system using lithotripsy. These procedures are still largely experimental in animals and are under investigation at Penn for many different applications in companion animal patients.

INFINITI MEDICAL is supporting a Fellowship in Veterinary Interventional Radiology as part of the Jack Ebrahimi Program for Minimally Invasive Interventional Radiology and Endoscopic Procedures at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. This provides the much needed philanthropic support to perfect such procedures. Through support of this program, Penn can become a center of excellence in minimally invasive procedures and provide training to interested veterinarians around the world.