Department of Interventional Radiology - Brothers of Mercy Hospital Munich

About the Department of Interventional Radiology at Brothers of Mercy Hospital Munich

The Department of Interventional Radiology at the Brothers of Mercy Hospital Munich offers the full range of diagnostic and treatment methods with ionizing radiation. In addition to conventional X-ray diagnostics, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the tasks of the department's doctors include minimally invasive image-guided interventions. Therapeutic procedures are performed using computed tomography and angiography. The department has state-of-the-art medical equipment, which makes it possible to provide patients with not only high-precision diagnostics and the highest treatment standards, but also maximum protection of the body from negative radiation exposure. In most cases, patients receive medical care on an outpatient basis. The department's specialists always devote time to personal communication with their patients and answering all their questions. The department is headed by PD Dr. med. Tobias Jakobs.

The department's main therapeutic options include the treatment of vascular diseases (for example, occlusive peripheral arterial disease), dialysis shunt revascularization, minimally invasive methods for treating liver pathologies (for example, chemoembolization, thermal ablation), minimally invasive treatment of kidney tumors (in cooperation with the Department of Urology), and image-guided punctures and drainages.

Interventional therapy is carried out under CT or angiography guidance. Angiographic guidance is commonly used during vascular interventions. The image-guided treatment gives excellent results and, unlike classical surgery, does not require any traumatic skin and soft tissue incisions. In addition, interventional procedures are performed under local anesthesia, which reduces the load on the heart and, accordingly, the risks to the patient's health.

The department has an innovative picture archiving and communication system, which provides access to diagnostic data for all hospital departments, specialists from partner hospitals and doctors in private practices. This system allows the specialists to store all images for 10 years, which also helps them to lead proper follow-up monitoring of patients after treatment completion (comparing old and current images in dynamics).

The department's main clinical activities include:

• Minimally invasive CT-guided interventions
  • Diagnostic procedures
    • High-speed punch biopsy of suspicious tissues in all organs and anatomical structures of the body (liver, lungs, bones, kidneys, adrenal glands, pancreas, lymph nodes, and muscles)
    • Malignant tissue marking before further treatment (surgery, radiation therapy, and CyberKnife therapy)
  • Therapeutic procedures
    • Drainage and fluid removal (for example, in abscesses, seromas, biliomas, and lymphoceles)
    • Radiofrequency and microwave ablation for liver, kidney, lung and bone tumors
    • Cryoablation for kidney, lung, bone and soft tissue tumors
    • Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty for osteoporotic vertebral fractures and osteolysis, which can lead to impaired spinal stability
    • Percutaneous pelvic bone osteosynthesis for fractures and treatment of traumatic sacral fractures
    • Pain management for spinal diseases: periradicular therapy and facet joint block
    • Nerve plexus block for advanced tumors accompanied by severe pain
• Minimally invasive angiography-guided catheter-based interventions
  • Therapeutic procedures
    • Treatment of arterial circulation disorders with balloon dilatation (percutaneous transluminal angioplasty) and stent implantation
    • Interventions for vascular occlusions in aneurysms, internal bleeding, uterine fibroids, vascular malformations, varicocele, and benign prostatic hyperplasia
    • Catheter-based interventions for cancer: embolization of tumors of various localization, transarterial chemoembolization of primary and secondary liver tumors
    • Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR)
    • Implantation of port systems
    • Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiodrainage
    • Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt
• Other diagnostic and therapeutic options