Renan Uflacker

Renan Uflacker (1949 – June 12, 2011) was a Brazilian physician. At the time of his death, he was Professor and Director of Interventional Radiology at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), in Charleston, South Carolina.

From 1977 to 2011, Dr. Uflacker practiced vascular and interventional radiology, becoming professor and director of the division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology at MUSC in 1993. He attended medical school in his hometown of Porto Alegre, Brazil, earning his MD in 1974. After residency in diagnostic radiology and a fellowship in cardiovascular radiology, he settled in his hometown practicing vascular radiology at a private hospital and at the Hospital of the Catholic University, where he did extensive work in peripheral vascular diseases and gastrointestinal diseases. At that time he pursued a master's degree in gastroenterology with the presentation of an original thesis.

In the course of his career he has performed extensive work in peripheral diseases in balloon angioplasty, treatment of vascular blockages which included pioneer work with the publication of the first superior mesenteric angioplasty and the first portal vein angioplasty. He also became interested in gastrointestinal and liver diseases and portal hypertension, with work in gastrointestinal bleeding treatment by means of transcatheter embolization, and liver cancer treatment. After his arrival at MUSC, he performed pivotal new work in the United States in the area of mechanical thrombectomy, and in 1995/1996 he initiated, in South Carolina and in the United States, the use of stent-grafts for the repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms. More recently he was part of a national trial for new covered biliary stents for biliary malignancies which resulted in the approval of the first covered stent for biliary application in United States.

Prior to his passing, Dr. Uflacker was in the process of developing a technique for filling aneurysm sacs with a polymer, working on a new dialysis graft with self-sealing ports, and participating in a long-term project related to the creation and growth of new vessels in limbs with lack of blood flow, a process known as angiogenesis.

Dr. Uflacker was a long-standing member of several specialty societies, which include the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR), and a fellow of the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe (CIRSE). He was a frequently invited lecturer and/or presenter at meetings and conferences nationally and internationally. His areas of interest included liver diseases and portal hypertension, as well as peripheral vascular diseases, such as the treatment of peripheral arterial and venous blockages, treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms with stent-grafts, and carotid artery disease stenting.[1]

Dr. Uflacker also authored and co-authored more than one hundred peer reviewed articles in medical journals and about 50 book chapters.

Uflacker R, Rajagopalan PR, Selby JB, Hannegan C. Thrombosed Dialysis Access Grafts: Randomized Comparison of the Amplatz Thrombectomy Device (ATD) and Surgical Thromboembolectomy. Eur Radiol. 2004;14:2009 2014.

Uflacker R. Treat the Clot! Direct thrombolysis and thrombectomy in pulmonary embolism. Endovascular Today, 2004;6:23-32.

Uflacker R, Brothers T. Filling of the aneurysmal sac with DEAC-Glucosamine in an animal model of AAA, following stent-graft repair. Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery. June 2006.

Uflacker R, Schönholz C, Hannegan C, Selby JB. Carotid Artery Angioplasty and Stenting. The Journal of the South Carolina Medical Association. Volume 102, June 2006: pp 117–121.

Uflacker R, Brothers T. Filling of the aneurismal sac with DEAC-glucosamine in an animal model of abdominal aortic aneurysm following stent-graft repair. Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery 2006;47:425-36.

Uflacker R, Robison JD, Schönholz C, Ivancev K. Clinical Experience with a Customized Fenestrated Endograft for Juxtarenal Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair. Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology 2006 Dec; 17(12): 1935-42.

Uflacker R, Schönholz C. Percutaneous interventions for pulmonary embolism. Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery (Torino) 2008 Feb; 49 (1): 3-18.

Uflacker R, Schönholz C, Papamitisakis N. Interim Report of the SENTIS trial: cerebral perfusion augmentation via partial aortic occlusion in acute ischemic stroke. J Cardiovasc Surg (Torino). 2008 Dec;49(6):715-21.