Patients with liver cancer, uterine fibroids, or an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) receive world-class treatment at Lenox Hill Heart and Vascular Institute. Dr. Rosen has been at the forefront of treating these conditions and sees patients from around the globe. Embolization, a minimally invasive technique that uses a variety of materials to stop bleeding or to starve tumors of their blood supply, is used to treat these three conditions.
Uterine Fibroids
If you have uterine fibroids, you may be experiencing excessive bleeding due to the size or number of fibroids, which are tumors or lumps of muscle cells and other tissue. Other symptoms may include pelvic fullness, urinary frequency, bloating, or lower back pain.
Uterine fibroid embolization (UFE) has revolutionized the management of uterine fibroids. For the procedure, a catheter is threaded through the groin into the uterus. Microscopic spheres are injected into the fibroid, depriving it of its blood supply. In more than 90 percent of patients, this results in an almost immediate end to excessive bleeding. Patients also experience a decrease in the size of fibroids 3 to 6 months after the procedure.
Dr. Rosen reported the first embolization for uterine hemorrhage in 1984, and he has subsequently performed more than 1,000 UFEs.
Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM)
Vascular malformations are relatively unusual congenital conditions that can occur in children and adults of all ages. As a result of abnormal tissue development, a tangle of arteries and veins connects without capillaries in an area and is called an AVM. AVMs can cause problems including pain, bleeding, growth disturbances, and, rarely, generalized cardiovascular problems, such as heart failure.
A multidisciplinary approach is used to treat AVMs, involving specialists from various disciplines including vascular surgery, plastic surgery, pediatrics, orthopedics, and dermatology. Each vascular malformation is unique, so each patient, adult or child, receives highly individualized evaluation and treatment. Most AVMs can be treated using minimally invasive endovascular techniques, avoiding the need for ineffective and potentially disfiguring surgery.
Liver Tumors
Liver cancer can originate in the liver (hepatic cellular carcinoma, or primary liver cancer) or spread to their liver from elsewhere in the body. You are more at risk for primary liver cancer if you have hepatitis B. If you have experienced any symptoms of liver cancer, you may have felt abdominal pain or lost weight.
A revolution has taken place in the management of liver tumors over the past 10 years. They can be treated using selective chemoemoblization, in which a microcatheter is guided through the groin to the specific artery in the liver that supplies blood to the tumor. A special chemotherapy preparation is injected selectively into the tumor, thus achieving maximum effect on the tumor while largely avoiding the usual systemic toxicity of routine chemotherapy.
Uterine fibroids, AVMs, and liver tumors are relatively rare, which means that they are often misdiagnosed and subject to ill-advised treatment. At Lenox Hill, you will be treated by physicians and staff led by Dr. Rosen, who is internationally known as a leading authority on embolization and the management of uterine fibroids, AVMs, and liver tumors and has treated thousands of patients over the last 26 years. Lenox Hill recruited Dr. Rosen from NYU Medical Center, where he was director of interventional radiology for 25 years. Dr. Rosen is one of only 2 physicians in this country who perform on vascular malformations and, in addition, he has developed numerous devices and procedures for treating vascular malformations, tumors, and peripheral arterial disease. These cutting-edge embolization techniques represent another dimension of the multidisciplinary approach, which is the hallmark of Lenox Hill Heart and Vascular Institute.
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