Dr. Adam Farkas, Head of our Vascular Anomalies Clinic, for the first time in Israel to use a new approach to treating certain malformations. This approach treats a Fibro-Adipose Vascular Anomaly (FAVA), a painful vascular anomaly where a significant portion of a muscle in a limb is taken over by tough, fibrous, fatty tissue, using cryotherapy (freezing) which is a minimally invasive approach.
Dr. Farkas explained, “Vascular malformations are birth defects that cause distortions in the connections between blood vessels and affects organ function. A rare malformation, FAVA in the blood vessels, is usually treated surgically. However, sometimes, positioning of the malformation or the surrounding muscles, nerves or blood vessels makes surgery a risky option which can cause serious disability. This new method inserts special needs in the lesion using images from an ultrasound and CT and gas in inserted through the needle to freeze the cells.”
This approach was recently used by Dr. Farkas on a 26 year old patient who had been suffering from shoulder and upper back pain for years caused by a vascular malformation. Surgery could have severely impacted the function of his shoulder and upper body. After three hours the patient was released in good condition and sent home.
Dr. Farkas shared, “There are only a couple of cases worldwide where this approach was used but I am optimistic that this approach will help patients for whom surgery is not an option and that over time and with experience, we will see greater applications of this technique.
