Portal Vein Embolization (PVE)

Well today was the procedure to block the portal vein coming into the right lobe of my liver. (see earlier blog post for the reason for this procedure). My wife and I drove into Chicago before rush hour (4:50 to 6:00) and sat around until it was time for my check-in at 7:00 am.

After this I got prepped and eventually made it into the large room where the procedure was done. I don't remember a lot after this except for the following:

- There were a number of people in the room in addition to the doctor and staff that was doing the PVE procedure as it is a less-common procedure and others wanted to observe.

- I was laying on a table which had some imaging equipment above me and which had a large bank of video monitors. I guess this is how the doctor was able to see the veins coming into the right lobe of my liver and plug them up.

- Shortly after I was situated in the proper position (45% angle between laying on my back and laying on my left side) and I had been cleaned up, I was given IV medication to put me into a light sleep and to cover the pain.

- After this I was out for most of the procedure. However, as the medication was just for a light sleep (so that I could respond to commands about deep breaths and such), I did feel some pain near the end of the procedure.

- I remember trying to move when I felt the sharper pain and the staff helping me to stay still. Shortly after this I remember hearing, "last one and now we are done" or some similar words.

Later, after I had been in recovery for a few hours, I spoke with the doctor. I apologized for moving during the procedure when I had felt the pain. He indicated that it was all fine and that I had handled the entire procedure well.

It looks like the procedure went well though we learned of one complication from our discussion with the doctor. My portal vein had high pressure for some unknown reason. Because of this I will be needing another procedure to get some liver tissue for a biopsy. I guess if we had had any idea that this would be needed then it could have been consented by me in advance and the tissue could have been collected today. However, since the doctor did not have this consent he was not able to do this and I was drugged out and could not at that point give consent.

After 4 hours of recovery (of which I mostly slept through) I was released and my wife brought me home. I then went to sleep for another 3 hours. Hopefully I will sleep ok tonight.

I have another meeting with my liver specialist and liver surgeon on Monday next week and I am sure that we will discuss the portal vein hypertension as well as the needed biopsy. In the mean time, today's procedure should induce my left liver lobe to begin to grow prior to my surgery which will likely be early in November.