The European Conference on Embolotherapy represents the world’s most important platform for knowledge exchange in this rapidly growing field, the active participation of its community consistently pushing embolization treatments to new heights. CIRSE Insider talked to ET 2025 Best Scientific Paper Award Winner Dr. Pedro Marinho Lopes and Magna Cum Laude Poster Award Winner Dr. Kaishu Tanaka to find out what drove their research, what they have found, and what is next for them.
CIRSE Insider: Dr. Marinho Lopes, you won the ET 2025 Best Scientific Paper Award for your presentation on the HipE study. In this study you are investigating the effectiveness of embolization for pain control in hip arthrosis and great trochanteric pain syndrome. Why did you choose these pathologies in particular to extend the use of embolotherapy to?
Marinho Lopes: On one hand, trans-arterial musculoskeletal embolization has shown promising results in managing pain in patients with knee arthrosis and adhesive capsulitis. On the other hand, hip arthrosis and greater trochanteric pain syndrome are common sources of chronic pain.
In the case of hip arthrosis, it sometimes affects younger patients for whom we want to delay hip replacement surgery, or very elderly patients who are not suitable candidates for surgery. For greater trochanteric pain syndrome, many patients are refractory to conventional treatments and there are limited alternative options available. We understood that there was an opportunity to test the applicability of this technique in this anatomical region.
CIRSE Insider: What have been your main findings so far?
Marinho Lopes: We have observed a significant and sustained reduction in pain along with functional improvement. Our results show this improvement at 12 months, and the trend appears to continue in a substantial number of patients at 24 months follow-up
CIRSE Insider: Why did you choose ET to present your data?
Marinho Lopes: ET is a congress entirely dedicated to embolization, making it the ideal platform for this type of presentation. Musculoskeletal embolization has gained increasing prominence at ET in recent years. The event’s size and audience foster direct interaction and valuable feedback from experts in the field.
CIRSE Insider: The ET 2025 audience and Scientific Programme Committee selected your presentation for the Best Scientific Paper Award. Why do you think it resonated to much with the audience?
Marinho Lopes: Musculoskeletal embolization is a topic that has been generating a lot of interest in the interventional radiology community. Our study featured a new anatomic area where we can also have a good performance with a significant number of patients with a 12-month follow-up, which helped demonstrate solid and meaningful clinical results.
CIRSE Insider: What’s next in the HipE study? When will you be able to present further data?
Marinho Lopes: The study design includes a 24-month follow-up period, and once completed, we will present the results. We also plan to submit the results of our work as a scientific article.
CIRSE Insider: Are you planning any other studies on embolization treatments in the near future?
Marinho Lopes: I am currently very focused on musculoskeletal embolization. Our ongoing projects are centered around this field, which I strongly believe will be a game-changer. Besides joint-related treatments—such as hip, knee, and shoulder—we are also exploring applications for tendinopathies, for example in the ankle and elbow.
CIRSE Insider: Are you planning to submit another abstract for ET 2026?
Marinho Lopes: Definitely. By then, we will likely be close to having the final results from our 24-month follow-up study. We are also gathering data on other anatomical areas that we believe will be interesting to analyze and share.
CIRSE Insider: Why did you choose the topic of cerebral infarction after pulmonary arteriovenous malformation embolization as a research topic? Was it something you had come across in your practice?
Tanaka: Yes, this research was directly inspired by clinical observations in my outpatient practice. Between 2019 and 2020, I encountered three male patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) who had undergone PAVM embolization between 3.8 and 16 years earlier. Unexpectedly, all three developed symptomatic cerebral infarctions during follow-up. Fortunately, these events did not result in any major disability or impair their daily activities, but they were nonetheless alarming. Until then, I had believed that cerebral infarction after embolization was extremely rare, so these cases came as a surprise.
This experience raised concerns that there might be additional asymptomatic infarctions going undetected. I was therefore motivated to perform MRI evaluations whenever possible to determine the true frequency of cerebral infarction after embolization and to identify potential risk factors. My goal was to improve long-term patient care by gaining a deeper understanding of these delayed complications.
CIRSE Insider: What have been your main findings?
Tanaka: We found that 17% of patients developed cerebral infarction after PAVM embolization, which is a higher incidence than previously reported. Notably, half of these infarctions were asymptomatic and only detectable on MRI. Our analysis identified male sex, younger age at the time of embolization, and complex PAVMs as significant risk factors. Interestingly, residual or recurrent PAVMs were not strongly associated with infarction risk; however, this may have been influenced by the limited number of cases in our cohort.
CIRSE Insider: Why did you choose ET to present your research?
Tanaka: ET is one of the most prestigious forums in the field of embolotherapy, bringing together leading interventional radiologists and researchers from around the world. It provides a highly specialized audience with a deep interest in embolization science and outcomes. Presenting our work at ET gave us an ideal platform to reach clinicians who are directly involved in PAVM treatment. In addition, the venue of ET is always thoughtfully chosen and attractive, which creates an inspiring atmosphere for academic exchange and networking.
CIRSE Insider: What did you think made your work stand out?
Tanaka: I believe the long-term follow-up, the use of MRI for detecting both symptomatic and silent cerebral infarctions, and the focus on risk stratification contributed to the impact of our study.
CIRSE Insider: What impact do hope your results will have on patient care?
Tanaka: I hope this study will raise awareness of the need for long-term neurological observation in selected high-risk patients and serve as a foundation for future large-scale studies using MRI to determine the true incidence and risk factors of cerebral infarction following PAVM embolization.
CIRSE Insider: Are you working on any other embolotherapy-related research?
Tanaka: Yes, we have recently begun exploring the use of shape memory polymer, a novel self-expanding and radiolucent embolic material, in various types of venous embolization. Based on promising initial clinical results, we are planning a basic research study to further evaluate its embolic properties and behavior in controlled settings.
CIRSE Insider: Will we hear again from you at ET 2026?
Tanaka: I certainly hope so. We are currently planning to present the results of our basic research on shape memory polymer. I would be honored to share these developments at ET 2026. Additionally, based on the findings from our current PAVM study, I hope to initiate a multicenter study in the future to more accurately evaluate the incidence and risk factors for cerebral infarction using MRI.
