Saturday, July 30, 2016

Immersion Week 8: One Last Hurrah (Surgical Images Below)

Summary: Finished my time in immersion in neurological surgery and interventional radiology.

I started my week on a positive note and after 4 weeks I was able to finally access OLEA and the PACS system and was able to actually look up patient MRI data. Though, because of the wait, I was only able to investigate volumetric changes in a couple patients. So, I was unable to confidently identify any potential cues for glio-progression, but I still enjoyed the experience.


Next, I was able to observe Dr. Souweidane  in neurological surgery and see the removal of two cysts from two different patients using two different methods. The first patient was an older gentleman that reported losing the capability of doing or remembering simple tasks, but didn’t show signs for stroke. So after MRI was conducted it was determined that the gentleman had a large congenital cyst that had begun to grow and press on to different parts of the brain. To remove the cyst, Dr. Souweidane used guided endoscopy to successfully remove the cyst. The second patient was a young girl who had reported that she was having severe migraines and so an MRI was conducted and it was discovered that the child had an unrelated pineal cyst that was most likely benign, but could be an issue later in life and even cause sudden death. So the patient’s parents decided it would be beneficial to remove the cyst.  For this operation, the rear skull cap was removed and the cerebellum moved forward so the cyst could be located and removed. I’ve included pictured to show the exposed brain and location of the cyst. Lastly, I spent time in interventional radiology observing Dr. May’s cases. I was able to observe an inferior vena cava filter being placed with the aid of x-ray. I was able to wear the lead vest and observe from inside the surgical suite. 

Exposed cerebellum after lower portion of skull is removed. Top to left.

Exposed cyst next to the pineal gland.

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