Dingxin Wang1, Robert Ryu2, Johnathan Chung2, Richard Tang2, Rachel Klein2, Barbara Szolc-Kowalska3, Gayle Woloschak3,4, Reed Omary1,4, Andrew Larson1,4
1Departments of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA; 2Department of Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA; 3Radiation Oncology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA; 4Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
Proper selection of UAE endpoints is critical because under-embolization may cause incomplete treatment and over-embolization may harm normal uterine tissue and generate excessive post-procedural ischemic pain. TRanscatheter Intraarterial Perfusion (TRIP)-MRI (involving catheter-directed intraarterial contrast injections) has been demonstrated to permit intra-procedural measurement of tumor perfusion changes during liver-directed embolo-therapies. As a step towards determining the optimal endpoint for UAE, we tested the hypothesis that TRIP-MRI can measure uterine fibroid perfusion reductions during UAE in a rabbit VX2 uterine tumor model. TRIP-MRI can be used to objectively measure uterine fibroid perfusion reduction after UAE in a rabbit uterine tumor model.