In the news – article excerpt
The New Wave, June 18, 2010
by Lynette Wilson
Shabbar F. Danish, M.D., Director, Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery and Assistant Professor at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH), used the Visualase, Inc., laser thermal ablation technique to operate on a patient with a recurring brain tumor after two previous surgeries and radiation did not permanently destroy the growth. The technology is the latest addition to RWJUH and RWJMS’s growing expertise in the division of neuroscience. Dr. Danish specializes in the latest in stereotactic neurosurgery, which involves targeting small areas in the brain with techniques used (in) everything from Parkinson’s disease to brain tumors.
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Article
CourierPostOnline.com
Three-minute surgery
By JEFF WEBER • GANNETT NJ • August 3, 2010
Dr. Shabbar Danish, the director of stereotactic and functional neurosurgery and an assistant professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, and his team perform laser thermal ablation on Susanna Denude’s rare brain tumor on July 6.
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick has become the first hospital in the country to perform laser-assisted surgery on an intracranial ependymoma, a tumor that grows from the cells that line the ventricles in the brain.
Dr. Shabbar F. Danish and his neuroscience team successfully completed this surgery on Susanna Denude of Riverdale on July 6 in just three minutes — and Denude was awake the entire time. She even was in and out of the hospital in 24 hours.
“This is a tool for patients with tumors who have been told they do not have other options,” said Danish, the director of stereotactic and functional neurosurgery and an assistant professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. “I felt that she was a good candidate for this based on what her tumor looked like.”
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Study in the news
Real-Time Magnetic Resonance Imaging–Guided Focal Laser (Ablation) in Patients with Low-Risk Prostate Cancer
Orit Raz, Masoom A. Haider, Sean R.H. Davidson, Uri Lindner, Eugen Hlasny, Robert Weersink, Mark R. Gertner, Walter Kucharcyzk, Stuart A. McCluskey, John Trachtenberg.
Accepted 3 March 2010, Published online 12 March 2010
(Posted on www.europeanurology.com)
Excerpts below:
Abstract
The tumor was identified on MRI. A laser fiber was delivered via a catheter inserted through a perineal template and guided to the target with MRI. The tissue temperature was monitored during laser ablation by MRI thermometry. Accumulated thermal damage was calculated in real time. Immediate post-procedure contrast-enhanced MRI confirmed devascularization of the target. No adverse events were noted. MRI-guided focal laser (ablation) of low-risk PCa is feasible and may offer a good balance between cancer control and side effects.
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FDA Statement