PITTSBURGH, April 24 Findings from the largest study to date evaluating minimally invasive esophagectomy, or removal of the esophagus to treat esophageal cancer, indicate that the procedure results in lower mortality rates and shorter hospital stays compared with most open procedures. The results of the study, conducted by James D. Luketich, M.D., associate professor of surgery and chief, division of thoracic surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and co-director, Lung and Esophageal Cancer Program, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, and Chrish Fernando, M.D., also of UPMC, will be presented at the 123rd Annual Meeting of the American Surgical Association (ASA), April 24-26, at the J.W. Marriott in Washington, D.C.

Minimally invasive esophagectomy, or MIE, was evaluated in 221 patients at UPMC from June 1996 through August 2002. Average hospital stays and mortality rates were compared with similar-size studies of open methods including thoracotomy (surgical opening of the chest wall) and laparotomy (surgical opening of the abdomen), or both. The study found that the median hospital stay was seven days for patients who underwent MIE compared with typical hospital stays in excess of 10 days for patients who underwent open procedures. The study also found that mortality occurred in 1.3 percent of the MIE cases compared with typical mortality rates of up to 5 percent or higher as reported for open procedures.

MIE is a video-assisted surgical procedure that utilizes instruments introduced into the body through very small incisions and a laparoscope, or tiny camera. Patients who are candidates for MIE undergo extensive preoperative evaluation involving laparoscopic staging, endoscopic ultrasound and CT scans to assess the extent of the disease.

"Our study demonstrates that minimally invasive esophagectomy offers results as good as, if not better than, open esophageal procedures," said Dr. Luketich, who is also co-direct
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Contact: Clare Collins
412-647-3555
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
24-Apr-2003

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