Interventional Neuroradiology

Faculty: Scott Shay, M.D.

The Interventional Neuroradiology service at Vanderbilt University Medical Center provides endovascular and percutaneous treatment of specific diseases involving the head, neck, face, and spine, with emergency care available 24-hours a day. These treatments include arterial-venous malformations (AVMs), arterial-venous fistulas, and, especially, aneurysms in the brain. For patients undergoing major surgeries to treat tumors of the head, neck, or spine, preoperative embolization is offered to decrease the blood supply to the tumor, which can dramatically reduce surgical blood loss. To treat vascular stenosis and blockages, angioplasty and stenting of the carotid arteries, vertebral arteries, and intracranial arteries are offered, as well as the most-advanced acute stroke therapies (including Penumbra, Merci, and thrombolysis). Emergency treatment of epistaxis and head and neck vascular traumatic injuries is also available. Treatment of Vertebral Compression Fractures (including Kyphoplasty, and vertebroplasty) is offered, and other spine maladies are treated with Epidural Steroid Injections, Sacroiliac (SI) Joint Injections, Facet Joint Injections, and Selective Nerve Root Blocks. New, minimally invasive procedures for a wide variety of spine problems are to be offered in the near future.

A wide variety of specialized diagnostic tests, including angiography, venous sampling of inferior petrosal sinuses for Cushing's Syndrome, Wada testing, carotid or vertebral artery balloon test occlusions, and sialography are other components of the Interventional Neuroradiology service. Percutaneous image guided needle biopsies for pathologic diagnosis and in some instances for lesion oblation are also performed. Dr. Scott Shay is the Chief of Interventional Neuroradiology at Vanderbilt, and is the only physician in the Region who is Fellowship-Trained in Interventional Radiology and Interventional Neuroradiology.

Interventional Neuroradiology is a component of the Neuroradiology section of the Radiology Department at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Consultation and interpretation of CT and MR studies of the head and neck include imaging of the sinuses, skull base, temporal bones, oral cavity, nasopharynx, pharynx, larynx, brachial plexus, and orbits. High-resolution 3-D CT imaging of complex cranial facial anomalies is available. Image guided biopsy for diagnosis of head and neck pathology using ultrasound, CT, or MR can be obtained. Endovascular or percutaneous treatment of head and neck pathologies including vascular and lymphatic malformations is provided by the Interventional Neuroradiology service. Dr. Scott Shay has been the Chief of Interventional Neuroradiology since 2006 and is a member of the World Federation of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology (WFITN).

[ Back ]