Pulmonary Arteriovenous Malformation Embolization: So Much Left to Learn

Abstract

Embolization of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVMs) has been utilized effectively for more than 40 years. Initially performed using conventional coils and/or detachable balloons in the era of cut-film angiography, currently, there is an armamentarium of embolic devices and methods for effecting therapy. Two studies in this issue of the Journal of Vascular Interventional Radiology compare traditional feeding artery embolization with venous sac (“nidal”) embolization, and in both, sac embolization appeared to improve the occlusion rate of lesions (1,2).