2009

Learn more about the surgeons of Columbia University Medical Center by viewing clips of recent news coverage, referencing their contributions to the professional literature, noting awards they've received, and reading the consumer and professional newsletters published by the Department of Surgery.

25th Anniversary of Columbia's—and the World's—first Pediatric Heart Transplant

On Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009 more than 60 pediatric heart transplant recipients and their families returned to NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital to celebrate the 25th anniversary of pediatric heart transplantation. In 1984, Columbia surgeons performed the world's first successful heart transplant in a child, giving the gift of life to a 4-year-old boy. In the intervening quarter century, more than 350 children have received new hearts at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, which today has among the largest pediatric heart transplant programs in the country.

Selected milestones of the Columbia pediatric heart transplant program:

• In 1983, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia helped initiate clinical trials of cyclosporine, the immunosuppressive drug that revolutionized the field of transplantation. The drug is still today the most commonly prescribed immunosuppressant used in organ transplantation.
• Surgeons at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital performed the world's first successful pediatric heart transplant in 1984.
• In the 1980s and 1990s, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia led research on left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), both of which have dramatically improved the time that children with heart failure can survive until an organ becomes available.
• In 1985, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia became the only medical center in the state to be designated as a regional heart transplant center by the New York State Health Planning and Review Council.

Coverage of the anniversary included NY1 and NY1 Noticias, the Associated Press, Daily News, New York Post, Advance for Nurses and News-Medical.net

Read more about the 25th anniversary of pediatric heart transplant at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital.

Dr. Faisal H. Cheema Wins a seat on Columbia University Senate

Dr. Cheema, a research scientist in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, was elected as a University Senator to represent a constituency of thousands of research officers from across the university. In addition to duties as a University Senator, Dr. Cheema will also be serving on two important Senate Committees including 'Research Officers' as well as 'External Relations and Research Policy'. His term as the University Senator will last until 2011.

The Columbia University Senate is a University-wide legislature, representing faculty, students, and other constituencies. It makes policy on a range of issues that affect the entire University or more than one school, including educational programs and priorities, the budget, academic freedom and tenure, the conduct of research, the libraries, information technology, Columbia's external relations, student sexual misconduct, rules governing political demonstrations, and the welfare of faculty, students, and research officers.

Multi-Organ Autotransplant Patient Starts Third Grade in Fine Shape

On September 9, 2009, New York Newsday published a follow-up story about Heather McNamara, whose multiple-organ autotransplant and tumor removal was performed by Dr. Tomoaki Kato during February, 2009. Heather had lost her pancreas, stomach, and spleen, which were too damaged by her tumor to be reattached, leaving her diabetic, more prone to infections, and dependent upon pre-digested food for her nutrition. The article reported that the seven-year-old, who started third grade on September 8, looked and acted like a normal, healthy girl. Dr. Steven Lobritto, who was interviewed for the article, reported that her prognosis is good, "She's a robust kid," he said. "She's right on target."

Dr. Bacchetta leads first Reported NYC Area PTE Procedure

After visiting the emergency room with fainting spells and shortness of breath, a 17-year-old Morningside Heights boy was diagnosed with rare, life-threatening blood clots blocking his pulmonary arteries. Matthew Bacchetta, MD, MBA, MA, led a complex, eight-hour open procedure to remove the clots, in which surgeons stopped the patient's heart, hooked him up to a heart-lung bypass pump, and cooled him to 18 degrees Celsius, or 64 degrees Fahrenheit, in order to reduce his body's need for oxygen. They then opened his pulmonary artery, shut off the bypass pump in order to eliminate blood flow, and removed several large branching clots. The process was repeated for each artery. Dr. Bacchetta learned the technique of PTE surgery at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD), where it was developed.

100th Catheter-Based Aortic Valve Replacement Implanted by Columbia Surgeons and Interventionalists

As of July 22nd, 2009 Columbia cardiac surgeons and interventionalists have performed 100 aortic valve replacements using a catheter-based approach that does not require open-heart surgery — the most of any U.S. medical center to date. Open-heart surgery can require a two- to three-month recovery period, compared to only a few days for the transcatheter approach. The procedures were conducted as part of multiple clinical research studies of the Edwards SAPIEN transcatheter heart valve. Currently ongoing is the PARTNER (Placement of AoRTic traNscathetER valves) trial, a Phase 3 multicenter study led by national co-principal investigators Dr. Martin Leon and Dr. Craig Smith and focused on the treatment of patients who are at high risk or not suitable for open-heart valve replacement surgery.

Read more.

NYP is #1 in New York, #6 in the Nation

Columbia's affiliated hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, is #1 in the New York City metropolitan area and #6 in the nation, according the 2009 U.S. News & World Report "America's Best Hospitals." This is the sixth consecutive year the hospital ranks among the top 10 in the nation. Rankings are determined by Honor Roll points awarded based on reputation, mortality rates and other patient-care-related factors. This year, NewYork-Presbyterian received 24 points, a two-point improvement over 2008.

Columbia Surgeons are New York Magazine 2009 Top Doctors

Fifteen Columbia surgeons have been selected as New York magazine's "New York Best Doctors 2009" and were listed in the magazine's June 15, 2009 issue.

Jeffrey A. Ascherman, MD Marc Bessler, MD Robert S. Brown, Jr., MD, MPH John A. Chabot, MD Jonathan Chen, MD Jean C. Emond, MD Mark E. Ginsburg, MD Tomoaki Kato, MD

Yoshifumi Naka, MD, PhD Roman Nowygrod, MD Mehmet C. Oz, MD Charles J.H. Stolar, MD Jan M. Quaegebeur, MD Craig R. Smith, MD Joshua R. Sonett, MD

Dr. Smith Appointed President Elect of AATS

Craig R. Smith, MD

Craig R. Smith, MD, has been appointed President Elect of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS). Dr. Smith will assume the presidency of the AATS at the association's annual meeting in May 2011 in Philadelphia.

Firefighter Goes Home after Lung Transplant at NYPH/Columbia

Fire Department of New York (FDNY) lieutenant Martin Fullam, who suffered pulmonary fibrosis from severe lung damage sustained in the World Trade Center attacks, received lung transplant surgery in early April, 2009 at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. On Wednesday, April 29, Mr. Fullam returned home from the hospital with his family.

The press covered the occasion during a NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital press conference featuring Drs. Joshua Sonett, Selim Arcasoy, Matthew Bacchetta and Jessie Wilt of NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia, as well as members of the FDNY and New York Organ Donors Network. Media coverage has so far included CNN Headline News, WCBS-TV, Fox 5, WABC-TV, WNBC-TV, CW11, My9, NY1, KIMO-TV (Alaska), KATN-TV (Alaska), Daily News, Newsday, New York Post, Staten Island Advance, Associated Press, WCBS Radio and 1010WINS.com.

Incision-Free Procedure for Severe Acid Reflux

The Scarless Surgery Program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, directed by Drs. Marc Bessler and Peter Stevens, is now offering patients with severe, chronic acid reflux disease an incision-free procedure called TIF, or transoral incisionless fundoplication. The TIF procedure corrects reflux by repairing the faulty lower esophageal sphincter. The procedure is performed under general anesthesia and takes less than an hour. The clinician inserts a specially-designed device through the patient's mouth and into the stomach, just below the gastroesophageal junction, where tissue is molded to create a new valve. The announcement was picked up by Medical News Today.com.

Read the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital press release.

Dr. Kato Leads Historic Surgery Resulting in Successful Removal of "Inoperable" Abdominal Tumor

Tomoaki Kato, MD

Removing a tumor from a 7-year-old girl's abdomen during a 23-hour surgery on February 6, 2009, Tomoaki Kato, MD, and a team of seven surgeons and eight additional clinicians removed multiple organs from the girl's abdomen. The team removed small and large intestines, liver, pancreas, spleen and stomach, while three separate surgical teams worked to excise the tennis ball-sized tumor, which was tangled around vital organs and essential blood vessels. After removing the tumor, the team re-implanted the liver, small and large intestines. However, the girl's pancreas, spleen and stomach — non-vital organs that had been compromised by the tumor — were unsuitable for re-implantation. The surgery is the first reported case of its kind in the world. The story was covered by New York Newsday, CNN TV, WCBS TV, NY1 TV, and 1010 WINS radio New York. Read more.

A webcast chronicling the surgery, "Clinical Perspectives: The Ex-Vivo Resection and Multivisceral Autotransplant Surgery," was webcast on June 17th by OR-Live. Join the team of surgeons and specialists who performed the procedure for a complete discussion of this unique and groundbreaking case.

View the Webcast.

Dr. Grant Honored for Breast Cancer Service

Robert T. Grant, MD

Dr. Robert T. Grant was named the 2009 'Man of the Year' honoree of the Beth C. Tortolani Foundation in recognition of his work for and on behalf of women with breast Cancer.

A Single-Incision First

NYPH/Columbia's first single-port laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy for morbid obesity was performed during fall of 2008. The sleeve gastrectomy is a procedure for surgical weight loss whereby approximately 85% of the stomach is removed, dramatically reducing the patient's capacity for food intake. This procedure is often performed laparoscopically through four or five small incisions; in this case, the surgeon used a specially designed laparoscope and instruments to complete the entire procedure through a single small incision. Other benefits of the single-incision procedure include less pain and quicker recovery. The patient had a smooth recovery.

Heart Valves Implanted Without Open-Heart Surgery

The PARTNER (Placement of AoRTic traNscathetER valves) clinical trial, a phase 3 multicenter study, is evaluating a transcatheter approach to implanting a new aortic heart valve. The procedure offers hope to patients considered high-risk or non-operable for traditional open-heart surgery. Craig Smith, MD, is Co-Principal Investigator of the trial.

Read the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center press release about the procedure and the PARTNER trial.

Dr. McKinsey Leads Pioneering Stent Graft Operation

In a NYC first and major advance for the field of vascular surgery, a team of surgeons led by James McKinsey, MD, fitted a 93-year-old man with an investigational device, a new custom-fitted stent graft, allowing treatment of a complex abdominal aortic aneurysm without major surgery.