Portal Vein Embolization - The Sequel

I had my second PVE procedure yesterday at Northwestern. I have documented the reason for the second PVE in previous blog entries. The highlights are that the first PVE was done very conversatively since the doctor did not know if my liver surgery would proceed based on the unexpected high pressure found in my portal vein. Now that the high pressure is well understood and the surgery is back on schedule the second PVE was done to more thoroughly block the blood supply to the right side of my liver. An MRI last week had shown that the growth in the left side of the liver had not been as much as the doctor's wanted to see. With yesterday's procedure it is hoped that the left side will grow sufficiently within the next 3-4 weeks before the next MRI.

Yesterday's procedure went well though I was pretty wiped out when it was done (as well as today). The procedure started at 8:30 am and was completed at 11:10. I was in recovery until 1:10. One difference between yesterday's procedure and my previous PVE is that I was awake for more of the procedure yesterday. The doctor asked me a few times to hold my breath near the end of the procedure. I assume that this was so that they could take some images of my liver and the blood flow after they had completed much of the embolization. Later after the procedure was completed we spoke with Dr. Lewandowski and he indicated that everything had gone well. He described how they used additional metal coils for the embolization to back up the particles that were put in first for blocking the veins. He was confident that the veins were very well blocked on the right side.

As far as we know the next trip into Chicago should be in 3-4 weeks for the next MRI.