A subspecialty of
radiology, neurointerventional radiology involves the minimally invasive treatment of a number of conditions in the head, neck, and spinal column. There was a time when neuroradiology was predominantly a diagnostic discipline. However, recent advancements that have improved imaging technology, improved contrast resolution and reduced radiation exposure to patients, have allowed neuroradiologists not only to diagnose medical problems involving the head, neck, and spinal cord, but to treat them using catheter-based procedures. Neurointerventional radiologists in the UAB Heart and Vascular Center treat some 1,100 patients a year in a procedural suite devoted entirely to neurointerventional radiology.