Popularising interventional radiology (IR) was the designated theme of this year’s 54th Japanese Society of Interventional Radiology (JSIR) and 15th International Symposium of Interventional Radiology (ISIR) held earlier this year (29–31 May, Tokyo, Japan). Facilitating a cross section of education, IR standardisation and debate, JSIR and Asia-Pacific Society of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology (APSCVIR) president Koichiro Yamakado (Hyogo Medical University, Hyogo, Japan) shared key takeaways from this year’s meeting.
Yamakado—having served as president of the JSIR since 2020 and the APSCVIR since 2022—set two goals which have characterised his term at the helm of both societies: first, to obtain accreditation for IR as a sub-specialty by the Japanese Medical Specialty Board; and second, to establish IR as a standard treatment in Japan. The former was granted in 2022. Still working to achieve the latter, Yamakado reflected on how the JSIR/ISIR 2025 programme was shaped to aid this objective.
“The content of our meeting has matured year on year and has already contributed greatly to the development of IR in Japan,” details Yamakado. “Communication with other non-IR societies in Japan and international IR societies has been very beneficial too. We also have good communication with government officials in Japan, which creates better opportunities for the future of IR. Promoting IR to the public has always been our goal each year and JSIR/ ISIR has been an invaluable vehicle to do so.”
Over 2,000 attendees took part in this year’s meeting, with involvement from the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe (CIRSE), Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) and other internationally recognised societies. Yamakado highlighted key sessions which focused on IR for obstetric and gynaecological malignancies and IR for palliative care.
The programme played host to a first-hand account of uterine artery embolization (UAE) delivered by actress Rie Shibata and a session detailing insurance coverage for IR procedures featuring talks from officials from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare division, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) and a key figure in the Japanese insurance system.
The programme served a wide variety of interests within IR, which Yamakado stated reflects rapidly developing areas of IR in Japan. Currently, “indications for radiofrequency ablation and cryoablation have been extended”, Yamakado says, describing the uptick of interest in this area. “Furthermore, we are planning to introduce Y90 radioembolization to Japan—interventional oncology is still popular. On the other hand, many IR procedures which feature pain control and palliative medicine such as genicular artery embolization, nerve block and musculoskeletal tumour embolization have become very popular,” Yamakado stated.
This year’s JSIR/ISIR theme also alluded to “what should be done” to expand awareness of IR’s minimally invasive treatments, said Yamakado. He noted that the prevalent “problem” is that Japanese citizens “do not know the name of IR” and greater publicity must be sought to remedy this. Yamakado stated that the JSIR/IRIS congress will continue in efforts to achieve this goal, while they also hope to leverage social media in the near future to reach more patients.
