Greetings
One of the important goals in clinical medicine is to provide advanced treatment that is gentle on patients. There is a demand for drug therapy options with fewer side effects, and for surgical treatment, there is a demand for less invasive and safer methods. In this trend, treatments that directly approach the lesion without making large incisions in the body are rapidly developing, and the endovascular treatment performed at our center is one such method.
Unlike surgical procedures, endovascular treatment is performed by operating specialized instruments from outside the body while making full use of advanced diagnostic imaging techniques such as fluoroscopic images and 3D mapping, without the doctor having to directly touch the affected area. This requires advanced skills and skilled techniques, but at our center, doctors from each department train hard every day, striving to provide patients with minimally invasive and safer treatments.
Director of Intravascular Treatment Center
Atsuhiko Yanagishita
Overview
Intravascular Treatment Center is responsible for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, which primarily involve inserting thin tubes called catheters into blood vessels, bringing the tip of the tube close to the lesion, and then delivering special instruments and medications manually operated by the physician through the catheter to the lesion. While the primary treatments are widening narrowed blood vessels, delivering medications to the lesion in a concentrated manner, and stopping bleeding, the center also handles a variety of other procedures, such as removing lesions or foreign bodies, and replacing malfunctioning parts with artificial materials. As with endoscopic treatments, some treatments previously performed by surgery can be performed this way, reducing the burden on patients and shortening hospital stays, or allowing treatments that previously required hospitalization to be performed on an outpatient basis.
As many organs throughout the body are involved, a wide range of medical departments are involved Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Cardiology, Cardiovascular Surgery, neurology, Neurosurgery, Transplant Surgery, pediatrics, and Critical Care Department, and the professions involved are also diverse, including doctors, nurses, radiological technologists, clinical engineers, medical materials departments, and medical affairs and administrative departments.While this procedure reduces the burden on patients, it also carries its own risks, so in order to promote collaboration and information sharing among multiple professions, including the medical safety department, monthly management meetings are held with representatives from each department and profession, with the aim of ensuring safe and smooth operations.