title: Malignant biliary obstruction: the current role of interventional radiology.
abstract: Cholangiocarcinoma and pancreatic head cancer are still linked with extremely high 5-year mortality in the western world. The management of such patients is complex and typically requires a multidisciplinary approach in a tertiary care center. Interventional radiology offers minimally invasive, image-guided treatment for a variety of diseases and conditions. Regarding patients with malignant biliary obstruction, IR options are considered for more than two decades as a valid management tool for both operable and non-operable cases. The options include placement of percutaneous transhepatic biliary drains, preoperative embolization of the portal vein and deployment of covered and uncovered biliary stents. The purpose of this review is to describe the current evidence in this continuously evolving field.
authors.affiliation: Interventional Radiology Unit, Department of Radiology, University Hospital of Heraklion, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, Creece (Dimitrios Tsetis).
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tsetis
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, Cambridge, UK (Miltiadis Krokidis).
authors.forename: Μiltiadis
authors.initials: Μ
authors.lastname: Krokidis
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Imaging University Hospital "Sf. Spiridon", Iasi, Romania (Dragos Negru).
authors.forename: Dragos
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Negru
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece (Panagiotis Prassopoulos).
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Prassopoulos
keywords: Malignant biliary obstruction; biliary stents; percutaneous interventions; transhepatic biliary drainage