Therapeutic catheter procedures in pediatrics.

There is a large spectrum of interventional catheter procedures being performed presently in children. The procedures that offer a greater advantage than surgical techniques and that will continue to be established procedures include percutaneous angioplasty of the pulmonary valve, peripheral pulmonary artery and caval stenosis, embolizations of pulmonary collaterals and pulmonary arteriovenous malformations, angioplasty of vascular access shunt, embolization of bronchial arteries for hemoptysis, and percutaneous nephrostomy and abscess drainage procedures. Others that have been successful but not yet routinely established in children include thrombolysis, renal artery angioplasty, embolization of peripheral arteriovenous malformations, dilatation of the urinary and gastrointestinal tract stenosis, and percutaneous biopsy.