Miller School Delivers Expertise, Research at SIR 2024
Article Summary
- Miller School of Medicine interventional radiologists were prominent presenters at the 2024 Society of International Radiology Annual Scientific Meeting.
- Interventional radiology chair Dr. Shivank Bhatia spoke about advances in the field of prostate artery embolization for benign prostate hyperplasia.
- Dr. Zoe Miller presented on adrenal vein sampling, a diagnostic procedure that can achieve biomedical cures for hypertension.
Researchers in the Department of Interventional Radiology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine presented on topics ranging from adrenal vein sampling, prostate artery embolization, post-uterine fibroid embolization and spine metastases at the 2024 Society of International Radiology (SIR) Annual Scientific Meeting (SIR 2024).
“Our representation at SIR’s annual scientific meeting—the largest annual event for interventional radiologists in North America—is growing by the year, with 2024 being our most impressive presence yet,” said Shivank Bhatia, M.D., chair of interventional radiology at UHealth and a Miller School professor of clinical interventional radiology and urology.
The meeting put the Miller School’s pioneering research and expertise in the global spotlight, according to Dr. Bhatia, who presented on advances in the field of prostate artery embolization for benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), for which UHealth is an internationally recognized center of excellence.
“The interventional radiology specialty is undergoing major growth and UHealth is building service lines around minimally invasive therapies, or minimally invasive image guided therapies,” Dr. Bhatia said. “That’s where our specialty is maturing and taking shape in terms of men’s health, women’s health and in adrenal vein therapy or endocrine intervention.”
Adrenal Vein Sampling
Zoe Miller, M.D., assistant professor of clinical interventional radiology at the Miller School, is among the relatively few global experts in adrenal vein sampling, a diagnostic procedure that can achieve biomedical cures for hypertension.
“The medical community is just beginning to realize how common hyperaldosteronism, or the production of too much of the hormone aldosterone, is in people with essential hypertension,” said Dr. Miller, who presented three adrenal vein sampling papers at SIR 2024.
UHealth is one of the few tertiary referral centers in Florida to offer extensive experience in adrenal vein sampling.
Post-uterine Fibroid Embolization Pain
Uterine fibroid embolization (UFE) is an effective, non-surgical treatment option for symptomatic fibroids that offers quick recovery times, according to Prasoon P. Mohan, M.D., an interventional radiologist at Jackson Memorial Hospital and associate professor of clinical interventional radiology at the Miller School.
“One of the most common complaints after UFE is the post-procedural cramp, which is from the dying fibroids,” said Dr. Mohan, who presented a paper about post-UFE pain at SIR 2024. “At present, it is managed with a combination of strong pain medicines. Our study shows that a simple, inexpensive intervention of injecting a single dose of the steroid dexamethasone at the time of UFE directly into the uterus can significantly improve post-procedural pain at 24 hours and two days.”
This study was a double-blind, randomized control trial, the most rigorous clinical study design.
“The results are important, as it addresses a significant management challenge in the treatment of fibroids,” Dr. Mohan said.
Painful Spinal Metastases
Miller School researchers shared novel data on multilevel radiofrequency ablation and the minimally invasive spine surgery kyphoplasty for the treatment of spine metastases. The combination approach can provide relief for patients who don’t have many options, according to Jeffrey Leichter, M.D., a Miller School assistant professor of clinical radiology and co-director of operations at Jackson Memorial Hospital Interventional Radiology.
Dr. Leichter led five studies presented at SIR 2024 on the topic.
“Many patients with painful spinal metastases get radiation for spine lesions or metastases and still have a lot of pain,” Dr. Leichter said. “Our extensive data is the first to show that a combination approach with kyphoplasty can relieve this pain with little downtime.”
Additional Miller School faculty presentations included:
• Hamed Jalaeian, M.D., M.S., a Miller School assistant professor of clinical interventional radiology and Lennar Foundation Medical Center director of interventional radiology, presented “Transplant Liver Interventions: From Basics to Advanced,” “Transplant Portal Interventions” and “Renal Transplant Interventions (Nonvascular).”
• Lindsay Thornton, M.D., a Miller School assistant professor of clinical interventional radiology and director of quality, safety and operations for interventional radiology at Jackson Memorial Hospital, presented “Curative Radioembolization.”
Tags: Department of Interventional Radiology, Dr. Jeffrey Leichter, Dr. Prasoon P. Mohan, Dr. Shivank Bhatia, Dr. Zoe Miller, interventional radiology