SURGERY
Surgeon Ghassan J. Samara, MD, in collaboration with Stony Brook neurosurgeon, Frederick Gutman, MD, performs minimally invasive endoscopic surgery to treat pituitary tumors.
• Instead of the large incisions or the approaches through the nose, a thin flexible endoscope — just over an eighth (⅛) of an inch in thickness—is placed through the nose to open the sphenoid sinus (the sinus in front of the pituitary gland).
• A computer is used to track the location of the instruments and to give the surgical team an extra margin of safety in locating and opening the sphenoid sinus.
• Instruments are used through both nostrils and the tumor is removed under the magnified view of the endoscope.
One of the advantages of this approach is the ability to place an angled endoscope within the tumor cavity and to see areas behind ledges not always possible with the conventional approaches using a microscope. This minimally invasive surgery generally takes one to two hours — versus three to four hours for the traditional approaches. The endoscopic approach also avoids the use of the Mayfield head-holder (pins placed in the head to keep it still), as well as the use of x-rays and radiation during surgery, which were required in the past.
This leading-edge approach offers patients considerable advantages over conventional surgery, such as faster recovery, less pain, and no cosmetic problems. Most patients can go home in a couple of days after the operation.
RADIATION ONCOLOGY
For more information: Department of Radiation Oncology
MEDICAL ONCOLOGY
Current medical therapies include, chemotherapy, targeted drug therapies for advanced and metastatic disease, and immunotherapy.
INFORMATION & APPOINTMENTS
(631) SB-CANCER (722-2623)