Ep. 475 Bariatric Embolization for Obesity Management with Dr Cliff Weiss

While GLP-1 agonists continue to gain popularity in the medical management of diabetes and obesity, Dr. Cliff Weiss is exploring bariatric arterial embolization (BAE) as an adjunctive therapy to help patients sustain weight loss. Dr. Weiss, the Director of IR Research at Johns Hopkins, joins the show to discuss the techniques and impacts of BAE for obesity treatment. --- CHECK OUT OUR SPONSOR Reflow Medical https://www.reflowmedical.com/ --- SYNPOSIS Dr. Weiss outlines his initial research interest in gastric embolization of the fundus to reduce ghrelin production. He began by studying the use of sclerosants for embolization but later shifted to using embolic spheres. BAE involves the targeted embolization of the left gastric artery, with or without the left gastroepiploic artery, using 300-500 micron embolic spheres. Dr. Weiss also employs a dilute mixture of spheres and a vasodilator to achieve distal arterial penetration. He describes the role of BAE in conjunction with existing surgical and pharmaceutical treatments. According to his experience, patients undergoing BAE achieve maximum weight loss 6-9 months after the procedure and can maintain this weight when they follow up in a weight management clinic. Additionally, Dr. Weiss reviews data from BAE studies, including the BEAT Obesity Trial and the recent BEATLES Trial. --- TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Introduction 03:21 - Early Research and Development of BAE 07:39 - Potential Role of BAE in Obesity Treatment 16:03 - Procedure Details 25:28 - Post-Procedure Care and Patient Management 28:06 - Insights from the BEAT Obesity Trial 33:38 - BEATLES Trial 37:38 - Combination Therapy for Obesity --- RESOURCES BEAT Obesity Trial: https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/full/10.1148/radiol.2019182354 LC Bead/Bead Block: https://www.bostonscientific.com/en-US/products/embolization/lc-bead.html EmboSpheres: https://www.merit.com/product/embosphere-microspheres/ EMBIO Trial: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/9/e072327 BEATLES Trial: https://www.jvir.org/article/S1051-0443(23)01155-7/fulltext