[Radiology: from diagnostic tool to interventional procedures].

This article represents the author's personal view and experience on the gradual shift from diagnostic to interventional radiology during the past 30 years. The first interventional procedures almost exclusively concerned vascular medicine. Progress in cross-sectional imaging with ultrasound, CT and MRI opened opportunities for further applications such as abdominal and musculoskeletal interventional procedures. Interventional radiology takes place in a grey area between specialties. Interspecialty turf battles can be the result, often at the expense of the interests of the patient. Training programmes have been devised that can be followed by professionals from different specialties, and it may be expected that physicians other than radiologists could perform radiological interventions, at least in part. This development should stimulate close cooperation between specialties, rather than the exclusive claiming of certain procedures. The progress of interventional radiology has benefitted from the multidisciplinary approach to clinical problems; this multidisciplinary approach should also be the basis for future developments in minimally invasive image-guided interventional procedures.