The First Private Teaching Hospital in South Africa, Johannesburg

Interventional Radiology

Our radiology practice has a busy and experienced Interventional Radiology section.

Interventional Radiology is a sub-specialty that uses image-guided, minimally invasive procedures to diagnose and treat a variety of conditions.

Using state-of-the-art equipment and the latest techniques, the Interventional Radiology section offers a variety of therapies, some of which are unavailable elsewhere in South Africa.

The Donald Gordon Medical Centre has highly specialized Hepatobiliary and Oncology units and our Interventional Radiology Unit is an integral part of these multidisciplinary teams.

Some of the procedures available include:

Hepatobiliary (liver and pancreas)
  • Biliary drainage and biliary stenting, for bile duct obstruction
  • Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (TIPS), for the treatment of bleeding varices and ascites in End Stage Liver Disease (ESLD)
  • Portal Vein Embolisaton
  • Transarterial Chemoembolisation (TACE), for the treatment of liver tumors.
  • Radioembolisation with radioactive microspheres from treatment of liver tumors.
  • Radiofrequency ablation of liver tumors.

Vascular
  • Uterine artery embolisation (UAE) / uterine fibroid embolisation (UFE) for treatment of abnormal uterine bleeding.
  • Spermatic vein embolisation for treatment of varicocoeles.
  • Coil embolisation for treatment of arterial aneurysms, and pseudoaneurysms.
  • Angioplasty (balloon dilation) for treatment of venous or arterial stenosis.
  • Image guided insertion of various vascular catheters.

Urological (kidneys, ureters and bladder)
  • Nephrostomy to treat hydronephrosis (obstructed kidney)
  • Percutaneous ureteric stenting (double J stent) to treat obstructed ureter.
  • Radiofrequency ablation of kidney tumors

Biopsies
  • CT, ultrasound or X-ray guided biopsies.
  • Commonly biopsied organs include the thyroid, lung, lymph nodes, liver, kidneys, pancreas and abdominal masses.

Musculoskeletal
  • CT, ultrasound or X-ray guided joint infiltration for the treatment of joint and tendon problems.

Percutaneous drainage
  • For treatment of cysts, abscess, ascites and pleural effusions.