Merit Health Woman’s Hospital Has Installed 3D Specimen Tomosynthesis System to Help Breast Cancer Surgeons Better Visualize Tumors During Lumpectomies
6/30/2020
System Has Helped Dramatically Improve Need for Second Surgeries Following Lumpectomies
Flowood, July 1, 2020 – Merit Health Woman’s Hospital has installed a new 3D specimen tomosynthesis imaging system to help breast cancer surgeons better visualize tumors during lumpectomy procedures. The system has been shown to dramatically improve surgeons’ and facilities’ re-excision rate, the rate at which second surgeries need to be performedfollowing a lumpectomy due to lingering cancer cells.
The specimen tomosynthesis system is a state-of-the art technology that enables the surgeon to visualize the tumor right in the operating room, which no other technology or technique allows. The technology provides clear images of targeted lesions, even through obstructions like dense tissue or skin. It creates true 3D images of breast specimens in 1mm slices in a single operation, which enables surgeons to identify the exact location, character, and extent of lesions three-dimensionally. The ability to more accurately confirm the extent of the target excision helps surgeons perform more precise procedures and minimize removal of healthy tissue.
Surgeons using the system during lumpectomy procedures have reported their re-excision rate, or the rate that patients need to return for a second surgery due to lingering cancer cells, have dropped substantially. The nationally accepted re-excision rate following lumpectomies is 20%, meaning one in five patients will need a second surgery, which can be traumatic and costly. Using this system in the operating room has helped surgeons reduce this rate to around 5%.
The system also saves time in the operating room, because the surgeon does not have to wait while a specimen is taken to a separate radiology area for analysis. Studies show that using this system during surgery can reduce a lumpectomy procedure by as much as 15 minutes, which for a patient means less time under anesthesia.
Heather Sistrunk, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Our hospital is renowned for providing advanced care, individualized service and an exceptional patient experience. Already considered the standard of care in mammography screening, when used during surgery 3D tomosynthesis allows surgeons to obtain a more precise view of the tumor, enabling them to be confident they have removed all cancerous tissue while preserving the maximum amount of healthy breast tissue to provide the best cosmetic outcome for the patient and reduce the number of second surgeries. At Merit Health Woman’s Hospital we are pleased to be leaders in the quality of care for breast cancer care patients, and this is a key part of our dedication to that goal.”
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