Therapeutic embolization of the renal artery with Gianturco coils: limitations and technical pitfalls.

The Gianturco coil, with or without Gelfoam, is particularly popular and effective in occluding renal arteries to control bleeding, devascularize tumors, close arteriovenous fistulas, and infarct kidneys in end-stage renal disease. However, without special precautions, successful embolization can suddenly be transformed into catastrophe. Representative reports of complications from medical centers across North America are used to illustrate the initial technical pitfalls of coil placement, as well as the more delayed complications that produce deviations from the usual postinfarction syndrome.