Percutaneous catheter-aided infarction of renal tumors: a preliminary report.

Three patients with moderate-sized cell carcinomas underwent percutaneous catheter-aided gelfoam embolization several days prior to an operation. Reduction of the vascular bed of the tumors shortened operative time and simplified the procedure. In the future these patients, along with others, will be followed to determine if reduction of tumor size by necrosis will alter the immune mechanism of the metastases. Even our small series and short followup illustrate that embolization is a simple and logical extension of diagnostic catheterization.