title: "Downgrading" of gastric varices with multiple collateral veins in balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration.
abstract: The efficacy of a "downgrading" method for treatment of gastric varices (GVs) was evaluated in 15 patients who had undergone balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (B-RTO) of GVs with multiple collateral veins. Downgrading in this study was meant to transform high-grade GVs into GVs with a low-grade architecture more amenable to treatment. Success was defined as gastrorenal shunt occlusion at the proximal site with a 6-F balloon catheter advanced over a microcatheter and without opacification of large collateral vessels. Thirteen of 15 patients with grade 3/4 GVs had their GVs successfully downgraded. The procedure is thought to be safe and effective in the initial B-RTO procedure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Hyogo Brain and Heart Center at Himeji, Hyogo Medical College, Japan. kinutetsu@mwc.biglobe.ne.jp
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: Shozo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hirota
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Zamora
authors.forename: Kazuro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugimura
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D021721:Balloon Occlusion / Q000379:methods*; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal; D004932:Esophageal and Gastric Varices / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006975:Hypertension, Portal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome