SEVS is a group of caring individuals who believe that animals deserve the same state of the art medical options as people.

Objectives
Facilitate the treatment of sick animals through the distribution of otherwise prohibitively expensive medical equipment to qualified veterinarians.

Provide training to veterinarians in the field of endovascular surgery and interventional radiology through professional publications, seminars, and workshops.

Support research by providing funding and equipment to qualified veterinarians to perform clinical trials.

Improve the quality of clinical veterinary care by developing and disseminating standards of care for emerging procedures.

What is interventional radiology and endovascular surgery?
Interventional radiology and endovascular surgery, subspecialty fields in human medicine, use advanced imaging techniques such as real time x-rays, ultrasound, CT, or MRI to perform minimally invasive procedures. Specially designed equipment such as catheters, stents, and coils replaces the standard scalpel and sutures. These techniques have revolutionized the treatment of many diseases in humans. SEVS hopes to create a similar revolution in veterinary surgery.

What are the potential advantages of interventional radiology and endovascular surgery?
Minimally invasive procedures are often safer, have fewer complications, and dramatically shorten recovery time compared to traditional surgery. The techniques can also be used to treat diseases not helped by standard surgery. SEVS hopes that these techniques will become the standard of care in veterinary medicine as well and therefore make procedures safer and less traumatic for sick animals. Furthermore, it is expected that these techniques will offer effective ways to treat diseases that are currently considered "untreatable".

Why aren't veterinarians currently using interventional radiology or endovascular surgical procedures?
A physician may spend up to seven years in residency and fellowship programs gaining the skills to perform such complicated procedures. There are less than 80 medical doctors training in this specialty in the U.S. every year. To have access to these physicians, humans must often travel to large regional medical centers or teaching hospitals. It is therefore not surprising that similar training opportunities do not exist for veterinarians. In addition, because these procedures are considered state of the art in humans, the equipment alone can cost more than $5,000 per case. SEVS will facilitate the training of veterinarians in this highly technical field and provide vital equipment free of charge to qualified veterinarians who can perform these procedures.

What types of diseases can be treated with these state of the art procedures?
Many animals with a wide range of diseases have already benefited from these advanced procedures. SEVS has supported revolutionary treatments for liver and head and neck cancers. Other ailments include: collapsing airways, epistaxis (severe nosebleeds), uterine fibroids, and congenital porto-systemic shunts to name a few. The potential applications for these techniques are virtually limitless. SEVS will provide the support needed to fully explore the frontier of veterinary interventional radiology and endovascular surgery and improve animal health

SEVS bylaws PROHIBIT research on clinically healthy animals

Dr. Solomon and Dr. Cope prepare to measure the pressure within the portal vein of a dog with a shunt. This information is vital in determining the safest method for treating this life threatening condition.

Dr. Weisse makes a small incision over the jugular vein of a foal. A catheter and a special device will be placed into the jugular vein and will be manipulated under x-ray guidance to remove a fractured catheter fragment from the horse's heart.

Lateral chest x-ray showing an endotracheal stent placed to treat a dog with a collapsing airway.

Dr. Solomon watches as a foal is prepped to have a foreign body removed from its heart using x-ray guidance.