The angiography unit at Shaare Zedek Medical Center has begun, for the first time in Israel, providing a groundbreaking treatment for complex vascular malformations that occur mainly in children and adolescents.
The innovative treatment, known as reversible electroporation, demonstrates high success rates and offers a response even in difficult cases that had not reacted to any prior treatment.
Vascular malformations are a complex and heterogeneous group of disorders of the circulatory system. Until now, the standard accepted treatment in Israel and around the world has involved injecting medication directly into the malformation in order to shrink it (a procedure known as sclerotherapy).
However, the effectiveness of the traditional treatment is limited, and most patients are required to undergo long, exhausting series of repeated invasive treatments in order to gain control of symptoms and pain. The new technology introduced at Shaare Zedek is fundamentally changing the treatment process.
As part of the treatment, the medical team returns a specific medication (bleomycin) into the malformation using a small catheter. Immediately afterward, the medical team uses a unique probe that delivers a short, controlled electrical pulse to the affected area. The pulse temporarily and reversibly opens the cell walls, allowing the medication to penetrate the malformation cells at a concentration 10,000 times higher than any other conventional treatment. The result is targeted and effective destruction of the malformation, with a dramatic reduction in the number of treatments required.
Dr. Adam Farkas, director of the angiography unit at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, who leads the treatment using the new method, said "We see fantastic results, especially among young patients who have already undergone multiple invasive treatments at other hospitals without success, and the innovative treatment finally provides a real and rapid solution to their problem. We are witnessing impressive effectiveness of this new treatment option, to the point that most patients who come to us with malformations are now referred directly to the reversible electroporation pathway."
Last week, experts from hospitals across the country hosted at the angiography unit at Shaare Zedek Medical Center arrived to observe the performance of the innovative procedures and even participated in a special international webinar led by Professor Walter Volgemuth from Germany, one of the pioneers and developers of the method worldwide, with the aim of learning from the knowledge and experience gained at Shaare Zedek and expanding the medical breakthrough.