USF Health now offers a procedure that shrinks an enlarged thyroid without surgery
Thyroid artery embolization blocks blood flow to the gland through a catheter threaded from the wrist, USF Health says.
TAMPA - USF Health is now offering thyroid artery embolization, a minimally invasive procedure that shrinks an enlarged thyroid without removing it, according to a Nov. 3 story from the USF Health newsroom.
In the procedure, interventional radiologists use imaging to guide a catheter and wire through the wrist to the arteries that feed the thyroid, then inject microscopic particles that block blood flow, USF Health says. Patients are sedated rather than put under general anesthesia, and most go home the same day. The gland shrinks over about six months.
"Data show reductions of up to 70 percent in volume," said Dr. Jamil Shaikh, an interventional radiologist and assistant professor of radiology at USF Health.
Shaikh says the procedure can also treat an overactive thyroid, including Graves' disease. The USF Health story points to a small 2025 study in the Journal of the Endocrine Society in which five of seven patients with an overactive thyroid had normal thyroid function afterward.
The story describes a 67-year-old retired accountant with an enlarged, nodule-filled thyroid who had the procedure in June. Her gland shrank from 120.5 milliliters to 47.5 milliliters, more than 60%, Shaikh said.
Only a limited number of U.S. centers offer the procedure, Shaikh said, and USF Health takes part in a nationwide registry study of its safety and effectiveness. The story does not give the cost, insurance coverage or how many USF Health patients have been treated.
Source: USF Health News, "USF Health offers a minimally invasive alternative to thyroid removal," Nov. 3, 2026, opened Nov. 4, 2026.