HSA brings in radiology specialist
(L-R) Dr Courtney Cummings, HSA Acting Medical Director, with Dr Vladimir Sloboda, Dr Hesham Sida and Dr Shravana Jyoti
(CNS Local Life): The Health Services Authority (HSA) has added an interventional radiologist to its team of specialists, enabling doctors to perform for the first time a unique procedure known as Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) in the treatment of a patient with a benign bone tumour. The thermal ablation technique, which is minimally invasive procedute for cancer treatment, uses electrodes to generate heat and destroy abnormal tissue.
A multi-disciplinary team consisting of Dr Hesham Sida, orthopaedic surgeon at CTMH Doctors Hospital; Dr Shravana Jyoti, HSA pathologist; and Dr Vladimir Sloboda, HSA interventional radiologist, worked on this case, stated an HSA press release.
RFA is routinely performed by interventional radiologists who use imaging techniques to insert a probe through the skin into a tumour.
“Interventional radiology is a subspecialty of radiology that uses minimally-invasive image-guided techniques to diagnose and treat diseases in nearly every organ system,” explained Dr Sloboda. “It has been described as the surgery of the new millennium. It is more effective, has lower risk of complications, is less painful and has quicker recovery times in comparison to open surgery.”
In a Continuing Medical Education presentation held Wednesday, 3 May, the team of specialists provided an overview of the procedure and other interventional radiology treatments available at the HSA. Approximately 40 clinical professionals attended the event.
During his presentation, Dr Sida explained that the patient was a minor who sought care at the CTMH Doctors Hospital. Upon initial examination and diagnosis, the doctor decided that a multi-disciplinary approach would provide the best outcome for his patient and proceeded to collaborate with Drs Sloboda and Jyoti.
Drs Sida and Sloboda carried out clinical and radiological diagnoses before sending the abnormal tissue taken from the patient to Dr Jyoti at the HSA’s pathology laboratory. “In a multi-disciplinary approach there is a loop; the loop is closed when pathology confirms the diagnosis,” said Dr Sida.
Dr Jyoti added, “My role in this case was to look at the tissue at a microscopic level and rule out any other pathological conditions to conclude the final diagnosis.”
Treatment options were discussed with the patient and his family and RFA was selected as the best one for the patient.
“This procedure significantly reduces the recovery time in comparison to the traditional invasive option, which is surgery,” Dr Sida said. “With surgery, recovery time for this patient may have taken a minimum of six months; however, this procedure allows the patient to return to sports in about six weeks.”
He added, “I worked alongside Dr Sloboda because he is the only interventional radiologist on island with experience performing this procedure. This demonstrates the importance of the private and public sectors collaborating to utilise the skills that are available on island to better meet the needs of the people.”
Category: Medical and Health
