Percutaneous Image-Guided Cryoablation in Vascular Anomalies

Understanding and management of vascular anomalies has always been intriguing. These disorders exhibit an expected pattern of clinical presentation and progression, and characteristic imaging findings. Significant progress in understanding and treating patients with vascular anomalies has been made in the past quarter century. Newer multidisciplinary domains for treating these disorders with medical drugs and less invasive image-guided or surgical procedures are constantly evolving. Vascular anomalies can exhibit aggressive tumor-like behavior resulting in recurrence or persistent symptoms after treatment. Thermal ablation has been widely used in tumor treatment. This has generated interest on using thermal ablation for treating vascular anomalies. Percutaneous image-guided cryoablation is increasingly used for this purpose as compared with other ablation technologies. Availability of small caliber cryoprobes and the ability to monitor the freeze zone in real time have made this an attractive option to interventional radiologists. These experiences are relatively new and limited. It is helpful to understand the emerging role of this technology in the treatment of vascular anomalies.