OPS-Code 8-549.01:

You were given a drug via an artery that targets your liver to damage pathologically altered cells.

Arteries are blood vessels that transport blood away from the heart. They supply all the tissue in the body with oxygen-rich blood.Veins are blood vessels that transport the blood back to the heart.

For this treatment, a thin tube was firstly inserted into an artery in the groin. This tube was advanced through the artery into your liver. A second tube was inserted into a vein in the groin. This tube was passed into your inferior vena cava. The inferior vena cava is a large blood vessel. It collects oxygen-poor blood from the body, for example, from the liver, and transports it back to the heart. The tube in the inferior vena cava has two small balloons. Blood normally flows from the liver back to the heart in the segment between the two balloons. This blood flow is interrupted when the balloons are inflated.

The tube was then used to deliver a drug to your liver. The two balloons keep the drug largely in the liver, where the intention is for it to damage pathologically altered cells. The blood is then suctioned out of the liver via the tube in the inferior vena cava. The blood firstly flows through a special filter that removes the drug from the blood. This prevents the medication from reaching the rest of the body. The blood then flows back into the body through another tube.