Neurosurgery Otolaryngology CancerCARE News Archive Featured in the Media JeffNEWS

DATE: Tuesday, May 23, 2006

TIME: 4:30 p.m.

PLACE:
www.jeffersonhospital.org/webcast
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
111 S. 11 th St.
Philadelphia, PA.

EVENT:
Jefferson will host a webcast featuring the newest approach for the removal of pituitary tumors – minimally invasive endoscopic pituitary surgery. Viewers will also be able to ask questions online of the surgical team during the surgery.

Jefferson experts in Neurosurgery and Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery – will perform this procedure through the nasal passages and sinus cavities without external incisions. New state- of-the-art technology has allowed for improved visualization and access to these difficult tumors, which has resulted in a shorter hospital stay, a faster recovery and improved outcomes.

Co-directors of the Jefferson Center for Minimally Invasive Endoscopic Cranial Base Surgery and Endoscopic Neurosurgery, A first-of-its-kind-in-the-region state of the art program has opened at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital offering a new alternative real hope for people with brain and skull base previously inoperable brain tumors . , who can now undergo a minimally invasive procedure that could cure them.

T he Jefferson Center for Minimally Invasive Cranial Base Surgery and Endoscopic Neurosurgery is the first a comprehensive center in the Philadelphia area where surgeons are able to remove skull-based tumors through nose and nasal sinuses instead of the traditional, more invasive surgery which required opening up the brain and skull .

Marc Rosen, M.D., Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University ,and James Evans, M.D., Neurosurgery, will pe r form the procedure. David W. Andrews, M.D., Professor and Vice Chair of Neurosurgery, will narrate . Drs. Evans and Rosen have been working together for several years and have performed at least 150 of these endoscopic tumor surgeries procedures to date.

(Note: Drs. Evans and Rosen will be available for interviews today, Monday, May 22, and the morning of Tuesday, May 23.)

BACKGROUND:
The Jefferson Center for Minimally Invasive Endoscopic Cranial Base Surgery and Endoscopic Neurosurgery is the first comprehensive center in the Philadelphia area where surgeons are able to remove skull-based tumors through the nose and nasal sinuses instead of the traditional, more invasive surgery, which required opening up the brain and skull.

Traditionally, cranial base tumors have been removed through large surgical openings in the patient’s skull or by removing facial bones. Instead, Jefferson’s multi-disciplinary team applies an advanced, minimally invasive approach which is less destructive and provides improved visualization. Jefferson’s surgeons are finding that better visualization and access to these difficult lesions has enabled improved resection, preservation of function, decreased risk of post-operative morbidity, decreased hospital stay and fewer complications.