Alicante General Hospital has introduced new technology that helps to improve the survival of those patients with malignant brain tumors.
It is a microscope that better displays a dyed fluid in the affected area so that neurosurgeons can better distinguish between diseased and healthy tissue during surgery enabling them to be more accurate in their techniques.
According to the head of the neurosurgery department, Dr. Pedro Moreno, "the problem we have, particularly with malignant brain tumors, is that when you open the skull it is difficult to distinguish different brain tissue, everything looks similar which requires the surgeon to err on the side of caution. As such there are occasions when not all of the damaged tissue is removed.
The new tool provides intraoperative imaging, allowing much better reproduction however it is a very expensive system because of the necessary installation of equipment in the operating theatre which must then be devoted exclusively to this type of intervention.
The patient is takes the substance by mouth, four or five hours before surgery, a drug that spreads throughout the cells which are deeply stained.
The neurosurgeon is able to see the dye through a special ultraviolet filter, unlike the classic white light that was previously used.
The direct consequence of this new technology is an improved rate of survival because the more of the tumor that is removed, the more years the patient is likely to survive.
Ten patients have benefited from this technique since March and is expected to use the procedure in another 30-40 before the end of the year.
"The Hospital management has made an extraordinary effort. It is an expensive technology, but now that we have it installed Alicante is able to compete with many other hospitals in the Region" he says.
Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/47320/
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