Welcome to Vascular and Interventional Radiology, a division of the Department of Radiology and Radiological Science


Tom Leuck, Radiology resident Dr. Emily Zerwas and Dr. Renan Uflacker discuss results during the Legs for Life event.

On Saturday, October 3, the Heart and Vascular Center at the Ashley River Tower hosted the Legs for Life event.  Legs for Life is an annual event wherein members of the community are invited to come in for a free screening and evaluation to address concerns about peripheral vascular disease (PVD), including lower extremity arterial occlusions, carotid artery stenosis, abdominal aorta aneurysms and varicose veins.   Patients first answered an initial questionnaire searching for risk factors, symptoms, and family history of PVD.  All the patients had their ankle-brachial index pressure measured, which is a quick and inexpensive screening method for spotting PVD. If the results of this indicated a need to do so, patients also had carotid and abdominal aorta Doppler ultrasound, with image screening for carotid stenosis (stroke prevention) and for abdominal aorta aneurysm (AAA).

Following this stage, patients with positive results were seen on an individual basis by the physicians to discuss the patients’ case in detail. Dr. Guimarães pointed out that during this entire process, “Orientation for risk factors management and annual revision with a primary care doctor were among the several things that we tried to target during the screening. The patients with indication for further evaluation (or a positive screening) will have their primary care physician contacted in order to discuss the referral of these patients to MUSC for a more detailed investigation and treatment, if indicated”.

Natalie Ankney, manager of the Ashley River Tower Heart and Vascular Center, pointed out that Legs for Life is one of the most successful outreach events.  “Registration appointment times are always filled way before the event, and we often have people walk in hoping to be seen.  It’s a major undertaking requiring assistance from numerous staff members, MDs and sonographers.”  She added, “Mary Williams has been leading the effort for years and does an exceptional job coordinating everything.”

During this year’s Legs for Life, 107 patients had normal results, 21 patients had abnormal results and there were 11 referrals for MUSC.  Thank you to everyone involved in this very successful Legs for Life!

Mission Statement: To provide state-of-of the-art diagnostic and interventional radiology services in a timely and cost effective manner to our patients, training of new interventional radiologists and do research to develop new technologies for the future. Left: Doctors at the Ashley River Tower.

The Medical University of South Carolina is the largest medical complex in the state of South Carolina.  The teaching hospital has been recently ranked among the best 100 hospitals in the country. MUSC is an institution devoted to three primary missions: Teaching, Patient care and Research. MUSC offers  the following programs through its six colleges: College of Medicine, College of Dental Medicine, College of Nursing, College of Health Professions, College of Pharmacy and College of Graduate Studies. The Campus of the Medical University of South Carolina is located in the heart of Charleston and occupies over 50 acres and more than 80 buildings. The teaching staff consists of approximately 1200 full-time and 1,250 part-time faculty.

The Attending Physicians & Fellows of 2008/09

Dr. Renan Uflacker, Dr. Marcelo Guimarães, Dr. Claudio Schönholz, Dr. Van Montgomery, Dr. Kyle Dale, Dr. Robert Garris,  Dr. Bayne Selby, Dr. Christopher Hannegan.

The MUSC Medical Center is an active tertiary 600 bed general hospital with all medical specialties, a level 1 trauma center, all types of surgery including a  broad transplant program and the largest oncology center in South Carolina. In 2008 the Ashley River Tower (ART), with 150 beds, was opened and is a high technology hospital for the treatment of Cardiovascular and Gastrointestinal diseases. Associated institutions are the Charleston Memorial Hospital, an 86 bed facility and the Ralph H Johnson Veterans Administration Medical Center, a 117 bed facility.

The MUSC hospital is home to the Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, a modern well equipped department including General Radiology and Imaging with 6 CT scanners and 5 MRI machines, Nuclear Medicine, and Ultrasound as well as the Division of Vascular & Interventional Radiology. The Department of Radiology was one of the first in the country to go filmless using a digital PACS system.  It is currently implementing the voice recognition technology and has just opened an imaging laboratory for small animals.

The division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology is located in the two buildings, at the main hospital and at the ART. The facility includes four angio suites and a 64-slice cardiac/interventional CT suite, and a 20 bed prep and recovery area in the main hospital at the Heart and Vascular center. At the ART, the Division of Interventional Radiology facility includes two brand new angio suites and one 16 slice CT scanner. At the ART we share a 34 bed prep and recovery area with the cardiology division. There is also an animal lab used for teaching and research.

The division of Interventional Radiology has a significant infrastructure to support our operations, with one secretary, one research coordinator, one venous access coordinator and two patient care coordinators, in addition to a group of nine procedural RNs, ten interventional RTs and two clinical managers and a billing and supplies coordinator.

The Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology currently has five attending physicians and three fellows and is directed by Renan Uflacker. MD, MSc, Professor of Radiology.

Referral Information

To contact Interventional Radiology Scheduling:
(843) 792-9271

To contact our Nurse Patient Coordinator:
(843) 876-5558

To get in touch with one of our physicians:
(843) 876-5556

To make a referral, or contact 
a faculty member Call MEDULINE:

843-792-2200 or
1-800-922-5250

24 hours a day/7 days a week

Referral process for outpatients>>