Interventional Paws works closely with The Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary School at the University of Pennsylvania. Many of Penn’s veterinary specialists are pushing new disciplines forward. This is certainly true of the School’s minimally invasive interventional radiology service, the first of its kind to be established at any veterinary teaching hospital in the country. Dr.Allyson Berent is a pioneer in veterinary medicine, performing minimally invasive medical and surgical techniques for such conditions as cancer, liver disorders, urinary stones, bile duct obstructions, tracheal collapse, and life-threatening nose bleeds.
An established tool in human medicine, interventional radiology has tremendous potential for the treatment of serious maladies in pets. The procedure involves the use of contemporary imaging modalities to gain access to different structures in order to deliver materials for therapeutic reasons. With expert veterinarians like Dr. Berent, the veterinary community is acquiring and refining similar procedures to those in human medicine to provide nonsurgical alternatives with decreased morbidity/mortality rates, minimal anesthesia time, shorter hospital stays, and lower costs.

Interventional radiology utilizes fluoroscopy to visualize the placement of catheters, stents, balloons, and coils into blood vessels, the urinary system, the respiratory system, and other tubular structures. Interventional endoscopy utilizes the endoscope under fluoroscopic guidance for diagnostic and therapeutic endeavors like: malignant obstructions in the urethra, ureter, bladder, common bile duct, or intestines/colon; strictures in the urinary system, nasal passages, trachea or intestine; relieving bile duct obstructions secondary to obstructive pancreatitis, choleliths, infection or tumors; and breaking down stones in the urinary or biliary system using lithotripsy.

The Jack Ebrahimi Progam for Minimally Invasive Interventional Radiology and Endoscopic Procedures at the University of Penn will provide much-needed philanthropic support to perfect such treatments. Funding this program will help Penn continue as a center of excellence in minimally invasive procedures—as it is in so many other areas—and provide training to veterinarians around the world.