The ULS, based in Vila Real, said that the Imaging service successfully performed "its first transarterial hepatic chemoembolization (TACE)," a procedure that "reinforces the differentiation of interventional radiology and expands the therapeutic response for patients with hepatic oncological pathology."

TACE, it explained in a statement, is a minimally invasive technique that allows treatment to be administered directly to the liver tumour while blocking the blood vessels that feed it.

"The performance of this procedure represents another step in the technical differentiation of ULSTMAD and in the ability to provide increasingly advanced treatments to the population of the region," said the director of the Imaging service, Rui Ramos, quoted in a statement.

In turn, the head of the Hepatology unit, José Presa Ramos, highlighted that “the availability of these techniques at ULSTMAD represents a real gain for patients, who now have access to differentiated care without having to travel to other units.”

The hospital unit said that the team also completed the implantation of a new “stent dedicated to TIPS [transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt] of six millimetres,” making ULSTMAD “the first centre in Portugal to use this technology.”

“This innovation allows for a more personalised approach in the treatment of portal hypertension, adjusting the response to the clinical characteristics of each patient,” he emphasised.

The ULSTMAD board of directors stressed that this advancement “reinforces the differentiation of the Imaging Service and reflects the institution's commitment to innovation, continuous improvement of health care, and proximity in the response provided to users.”

The ULS plans to organise a meeting dedicated to the treatment of portal thrombosis on 23 October, sponsored by the Portuguese Association of Interventional Radiology, bringing together national and international specialists.

This ULS includes three hospitals (Vila Real, Chaves and Lamego) and health centres and family health units from 21 municipalities.