Barcelona hosts the European Congress of Interventional Radiology

On 10-14 September more than 6,500 specialists meet in Barcelona at the Congress of the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology Society of Europe (CIRSE). Dr. Marta Burrel, interventional radiologist at Hospital Clínic of Barcelona, is the local chairperson of the conference, the most important meeting on this specialty worldwide.

Interventional radiology is a specialty within radiology that uses imaging techniques to diagnose or treat diseases through minimally invasive procedures. Catheters are guided to the injured blood vessels or organs with the help of different imaging techniques (X-ray, ultrasounds or computed tomography, among others). The main advantage of applying these techniques is that there is a lower less risk than conventional procedures with a shorter hospitalization time.

In the Radiology Department of the Clínic Diagnostic Imaging Centre (CDIC), headed by Dr. Laura Oleaga, there are performed procedures in the field of interventional radiology such as embolization of blood vessels, which can control or prevent abnormal bleeding and control tumor growth control; thrombectomy, a technique used to remove a thrombus from a blocked vessel; or thrombolysis, used to dissolve blood clots and improve abnormal flow vessel.

With the aim of bringing this specialty to society during the CIRSE has been held the first Wiki-Marathon in the context of a medical conference. During the event, interventional radiologists have uploaded contents in Wikipedia about different techniques used in this field.