Rajasekhara Ayyagari, MD, FSIR

Associate Professor (appointment pending), Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

After completing two-and-a-half years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Andes mountains and Amazon jungles of Ecuador, Dr. Raj Ayyagari graduated from Yale School of Medicine in 2004. He first began training in Urology at the University of Washington, and then chose to pursue a career in image-guided minimally invasive procedural therapy. He went on to complete a residency in Diagnostic Radiology and fellowship in Interventional Radiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2011.

The mainstay of Dr. Ayyagari’s contributions over the past decade have been in the field of prostatic artery embolization (PAE). He single-handedly developed one of the first and largest PAE practices in the country. His has risen to prominence not only because he has reported his expansive data in top IR and Urology meetings and journals, but also because of his genuine collaborative spirit for working with those within and beyond his specialty.

In recent years, Dr. Ayyagari has pioneered minimally invasive treatments for prostate cancer. He previously implemented one of the few in-bore MRI-guided prostate biopsy programs in the country. His trans-perineal approach significantly improves on the infection risk of the standard trans-rectal approach, while allowing direct visualization and sampling of suspicious lesions seen on diagnostic prostate MRI scans. Even more importantly, Dr. Ayyagari recently partnered with urologists to build one of a handful of centers in the world to offer a new MRI-guided transurethral prostate cancer ablation procedure, a procedure which promises to become a true game-changer in the treatment of prostate cancer.

Dr. Ayyagari had been on faculty at Yale School of Medicine and practicing at Yale-New Haven Hospital, until recently when he returned with his family to the Boston area. He is now a faculty member at Boston University School of Medicine and interventional radiologist at Boston Medical Center.

Publications

  • Published 10/30/2025

    Rostambeigi N, Sapoval M, Bilhim T, McClure T, McWilliams JP, Carnevale FC, Kovács A, Little MW, Bhatia S, Parikh NS, Young SJ, Ayyagari R, Mouli SK, Golzarian J. Standardized Technique for Prostatic Artery Embolization: A Delphi Consensus Study on Optimized Methods and Emerging Concepts. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2026 Feb; 37(2):107902. PMID: 41173451.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 10/16/2025

    Schmidt VF, Grethen J, Pryadko M, Gildein HE, Fabritius MP, Nörenberg D, Kazmierczak PM, Cyran CC, Ayyagari R, Deniz S, Wildgruber M, Seidensticker M, Pech M, Ricke J, Puhr-Westerheide D. Pre- and Periprocedural Imaging Predicts Technical but not Clinical Success of Prostatic Artery Embolization Using Non-spherical PVA Particles-Insights From the Prospective PROEMBO Trial. Acad Radiol. 2026 Jan; 33(1):121-133. PMID: 41107127.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 1/20/2025

    Deshmukh U, Pabon-Ramos W, Ayyagari R. The Role of Interventional Radiology in Managing Placenta Accreta Spectrum Disorder. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2025 Jun 01; 68(2):266-274. PMID: 39838532.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 3/1/2024

    Ayyagari R, Rahman SZ, Grizzard K, Mustafa A, Staib LH, Makkia RS, Bhatia S, Bilhim T, Carnevale FC, Davis C, Fischman A, Isaacson A, McClure T, McWilliams J, Nutting C, Richardson A, Salem R, Sapoval M, Yu H. Multicenter Quantification of Radiation Exposure and Associated Risks for Prostatic Artery Embolization in 1476 Patients. Radiology. 2024 Mar; 310(3):e231877. PMID: 38441098.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 7/12/2023

    Ayyagari R. Operator Learning Curve for Prostatic Artery Embolization and Its Impact on Outcomes in 296 Patients. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol. 2023 Aug; 46(8):1095-1096. PMID: 37438651.

    Read at: PubMed

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Websites

Education

  • Yale University School of Medicine, MD
  • Swarthmore College, BA

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