Balloon-Occluded Transvenous Obliteration for Gastric Varices

Gastric varices (GVs) occur in the setting of liver cirrhosis and may result in life-threatening hemorrhage. Balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO) is a minimally invasive image-guided intervention used to treat GVs that are actively, previously, or at high risk for bleeding. This chapter reviews GVs and BRTO in terms of epidemiology, anatomy, patient eligibility, procedure technique, and clinical outcomes.