Stavros Stavropoulos,
MD, Director of
Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
and the Advanced Endoscopy
Program at Winthrop-University
Hospital, is using the world’s smallest
microscope to view internal tissues at
the cellular level in real time during
endoscopies. Studies have shown that
having this cell-by-cell view of the lining
of the GI tract and lungs can lead
to improved detection and faster treatment
of pre-cancerous conditions.
Winthrop is the first Hospital on
Long Island to offer this new advanced
imaging technology – known as
Cellvizio® – to at-risk patients during
standard endoscopy procedures to
detect signs of esophageal, colorectal,
and bile or pancreatic duct abnormalities
and pancreatic cancer.
“Until now, if we found areas that
appeared abnormal during endoscopic
procedures, we would often take random
tissue samples and send them to a
laboratory for analysis,” explained Dr.
Stavropoulos. “With this new system, we
can look at tissue at a microscopic cellular
level right there in the endoscopy suite –
during the procedure. The old process is
often imprecise, inefficient and can take
up to a week. Patients often have to come
in for additional therapeutic procedures
at a later date. With Cellvizio, we have a
tool that provides us with a closer view of
the lining of the GI tract in real time, a
sort of ‘optical biopsy’ so we have more
information to help us guide expeditious
treatment planning at the same
endoscopic session. With Cellvizio’s
cellular-level views, we have more visual
information about internal tissues at the
patient’s bedside than ever before.”
Seventy-seven-year-old Joan Davis*
of Merrick, NY, has struggled with
Barrett’s esophagus – a disorder in which
the lining of the esophagus is damaged
by stomach acid – for nearly a decade.
Recently, a routine surveillance
endoscopy revealed a nodular
area in her esophagus
and biopsies determined
it to be a
low grade dysplasia
(abnormality). She was referred to Dr.
Stavropoulos for further evaluation and
management.
Dr. Stavropoulos performed an
endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) –
an imaging procedure that combines
endoscopy and ultrasound to obtain
images of the digestive tract and surrounding
tissue and organs. The EUS
confirmed the presence of the lesion
and with the help of innovative
Cellvizio confocal endomicroscopy, the
lesion was determined to be cancerous.
“The Cellvizio technology helped
detect a previously unsuspected T1
carcinoma and changed our approach
to treatment,” said Dr. Stavropoulos,
who successfully removed the lesion
via endoscopic submucosal dissection
(ESD), an advanced resection technique
to address superficial cancerous
lesions of the gastrointestinal tract.
Today, just weeks after the procedure,
Ms. Davis couldn’t be happier
with the results.
“I feel terrific!” said Ms. Davis,
who also praised Dr. Stavropoulos and
Winthrop for the outstanding care
she received.
A growing body of published clinical
data shows that by adding Cellvizio
to colonoscopies, endoscopies and a
standard pancreatic and bile duct exams,
physicians have been able to more
accurately differentiate cancerous and
pre-cancerous changes in tissue. In some
cases, physicians have been able to perform
minimally invasive treatments for
conditions that traditionally required
major surgical operations because of the
improved view and understanding of the
extent and stage of pre-cancerous lesions
and early cancers.
To use Cellvizio, the tiny microscope
is threaded through a traditional
endoscope like a catheter or biopsy forceps,
while the patient is undergoing an
endoscopy. The microstructure of the
digestive tract appears in real time on a
monitor under the administration of a
contrast agent called fluorescein, which
allows the physician to recognize typical
features of healthy and diseased
tissue. It adds only a few minutes to
the standard endoscopic exam and has
a proven safety record with no adverse
events reported in thousands of cases.
Winthrop-University Hospital is
one of about 50 centers in the United
States using the Cellvizio confocal
probe. Cellvizio is cleared by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration for use
in the GI tract and lungs.
Medical conditions of the digestive
tract severely affect quality of life and may
even be life threatening. At Winthrop’s
Institute for Digestive Disorders, caring,
compassionate physicians use the latest
technologies to accurately diagnose and
effectively manage these problems.
Experienced Winthrop physicians and
researchers, with specific areas of expertise
in gastroenterology, hepatology and
nutrition, offer a full range of services,
including colon cancer screening, diagnosis
and staging of gastrointestinal
malignancies such as esophageal, pancreatic
and stomach cancer, treatment of
irritable bowel syndrome, liver disease,
peptic ulcer disease, abdominal pain,
gallbladder or gallstone problems, and
heartburn or reflux.
For more information about the
comprehensive care that’s available for
digestive disorders at Winthrop, call
1-866-WINTHROP or visit
www.winthrop.org.
*Patient’s name has been changed to
respect her privacy.
|
Vol. 22, No. 2
Summer 2012
Back to Publications
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