SMC Achieves 1,000 Cases of Endoscopic Brain Tumor Surgery
<SMC recently announced it has reached the 1,000-case milestone in endoscopic brain tumor removal. Prof. Kong Doo Sik at Department of Neurosurgery (right) and Prof. Hong Sang Duk at Department of Otorhinolaryngology are conducting a brain tumor surgery via an endoscope.>
- Endoscopic surgery is less stressful for the patient since it is performed through the nostril without opening the skull; the procedure is mostly applied to pituitary tumors and other neoplasms.
Recently, Samsung Medical Center announced it has performed its 1,000th case of endoscopic brain tumor surgery. The milestone has reached in seven years since the hospital applied endoscopic procedure to neoplasm in basal ganglia for the first time in 2009. SMC now holds the record for most operations performed in this procedure in Korea.
Endoscopic brain tumor surgery is a procedure that puts an endoscope and compact surgical instruments through the patient’s nostril to remove brain tumors effectively while minimizing damage on normal brain tissues.
The merit of endoscopic operations is that it can minimize stress on the patient and the surgery can be done in a shorter time since it is conducted via the nostril, in contrast to conventional brain tumor surgeries that require opening the skull.
The procedure, however, has a high entry barrier because it requires an extensive training of the medical staff, since it must be performed in a limited space, and close cooperation between neurosurgeons and otolaryngologists is crucial.
Yet SMC has been successfully removing brain tumors with endoscopes not just in the pituitary, but also in cases in which the neoplasm is located deeper in the brain and thus makes surgeries more difficult, such as craniopharyngioma, chordoma, encephalocele, meningioma, and olfactory neuroblastoma.
“The Neuro-endoscopic Surgery Team at SMC is striving for better treatment results through ceaseless research and improving teamwork,” Prof. Kong Doo Sik at Department of Neurosurgery says, “We will continue to better our technique and do our best for the patients.”
SMC opened the Endoscopic Brain Tumor Surgery Clinic, led by Prof. Nam Do-Hyun and Prof Kong Doo Sik at Department of Neurosurgery and Prof. Hong Sang Duk at Department of Otorhinolaryngology, where around 200 patients are treated every year.