In Reply to: surgery ? posted by joe on July 11, 2008 at 00:08:00:
My primary concern is that we confirm the surgeon at samsung has significant experience and success with EPP. This surgery is extremely technical and needs to be done by a center that does it often, not once or twice in a particular surgeons career. This is not like getting your gallbladder out. That is one of the reasons we are having Valarie Rusch (msk thoracic surgeon and collegue of brennans) review your films...she is one of if not THE US expert with EPP. My pub med searches suggest she is the most published surgeons on EPP...and her studies have significantly more patients than many of the others. Now, the much more frequent indication for this procedure is with mesothelioma...because that type of cancer is more common than Joe's very very rare primary MFH of the chest. I have a second residency friend, not heather, that is at a very reputable surgical oncology center doing her fellowship. Her institution, which is a major surg onc program (not mda or msk) has never successfully done an EPP. I tell you this just to try and emphysize that even at a major US cancer center they don't do this procedure often or with success. Rusch and Brennan should get the films by monday. Getting their experienced input will be invaluable. In addition to getting their opinion, we also MUST get info about the samsung surgeon.