Outreach Online -Fall 2009

Watch WATCH Dr. Cohen’s interview about robotics with WDSU Noon.

GET MORE information on Ochsner’s Multi-Organ Transplant Institute.

READ about a friendship forged between young women on the transplant unit.

Up Front

One of the first robotic-assisted transplants in the nation was performed at Ochsner Medical Center in July. Ochsner transplant surgeons used the daVinci^® surgical robot to remove a kidney from a living donor. “This is the next level of technology,” says Dr. Ari J. Cohen, FRCSC, FACS, Surgical Director, Kidney Transplant Program. “Moving forward, we anticipate procuring all living-donor kidneys with the help of robotics.”

Robotic surgery benefits the donor because it uses smaller incisions, which results in less pain and a faster recovery than traditional open or laparoscopic techniques.

“Donating an organ is an important decision, and the daVinci enables us to make the procedure more comfortable for an individual who's chosen to save a life,” says Dr. Cohen.

Robotic surgery also benefits the recipient because it enables the surgeon to remove the organ with increased precision and dexterity, resulting in a higher-quality kidney for transplant.

According to United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), more than 1,600 people in Louisiana and 80,000 nationwide are on kidney transplant waiting lists. “Hopefully this advancement, with the reduced impact it has on donors and improved transplant precision, will encourage more people to consider living-related kidney donations,” remarks Dr. Cohen.

Dr. Ari Cohen

Ari J. Cohen, M.D., FRCSC, FACS
Surgical Director, Kidney Transplant Program

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Did You Know

Laparoscopic surgery

OPEN WIDE
Surgery done from inside

A surgery without incisions? Ochsner Medical Center – Baton Rouge is now offering a transoral incisionless fundoplication procedure called EsophyX TIF for treating gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

“It’s a very exciting technology, and it presents much less risk for patients than open or laparoscopic surgery,” says surgeon Dr. Louis Jeansonne IV. Using a long, thin tube inserted through the mouth, surgeons direct a miniature surgical instrument to place stitches between the stomach and the esophagus, creating a barrier that blocks acid reflux.

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Malignancy Consortium.

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services at Ochsner

Did You Know

Doctor in laboratory

IN TREATMENT
Finding cancer cures for AIDS patients

Dr. Joseph Phillips remembers when hospitals had AIDS units. Today, the disease is often treated in outpatient clinics with advanced drugs, but the prolonged lifespan of AIDS patients has led to increased incidences of cancer, which requires treatment methods that often don’t agree with AIDS medications.

To help resolve this treatment conundrum, Ochsner joined the AIDS Malignancy Consortium, a worldwide group of doctors and institutions researching treatments for this subset of cancer patients. Now, Ochsner HIV/AIDS patients will be able to participate in clinical trials for new cancer treatments.

“There was a reluctance for a long time among physicians to treat patients with HIV/AIDS-associated malignancies. They would sometimes be treated with scaled-back regimens or not at all. Through the efforts of the consortium, these patients are now being successfully treated,” says Dr. Phillips. “There’s a huge, underserved population here.”

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