What am I looking at?
Visual recognition
Balloon-tipped catheter positioned in the portosystemic shunt outflow, with a compliant distal balloon that is inflated during sclerosant instillation.
17-01
BRTO occlusion balloon catheter
BRTO occlusion balloon
Three-panel learning framework
Recognition, context, and distinction
What does it do, and where will I see it?
Use & procedural context
Compliant balloon inflated in the gastrorenal shunt to block outflow so injected sclerosant dwells within and obliterates gastric varices during balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration. Typical procedural contexts include BRTO for gastric varices and management of portosystemic shunts.
What most clearly distinguishes it from similar devices?
Key distinctions
The balloon’s role is prolonged shunt-outflow occlusion so sclerosant can dwell within the target variceal complex, rather than angioplasty or short-duration diagnostic flow arrest.