3. Leading Edge Care

In a time with great promise for healthier tomorrows, we are closer than ever to understanding the underlying pathology and progression of some of the most destructive diseases known to mankind.

This past year alone, there have been tremendous medical breakthroughs in the treatment of cancer, heart disease and other deadly diseases. St. John’s continues to stay on the cutting edge, bringing these treatment modalities home, along with providing health care facilities that transform the way care is delivered.

“We’re measured against other health systems, not just locally, but across the country,” says David Barbe, M.D., regional president for St. John’s Clinic. “We have to be as good as Mayo, we have to be as good as Cleveland Clinic. We have to be as good as any other health system that people in the Midwest have heard of because they can go somewhere else if they want to. We have the cutting-edge technology and the highest levels of treatment right here.”

This summer, St. John’s will introduce the CyberKnife to the Ozarks at the newly constructed St. John’s Radiosurgery Center, on the northwest side of St. John’s Cancer Center.

For the first time in southwest Missouri, cancer patients will be able to receive CyberKnife radiosurgery – a high-dose, concentrated radiation delivered in a focused, accurate way that does not damage healthy tissue – for the treatment of tumors and other diseases throughout the body.

CyberKnife radiosurgery is a precise, painless, non-invasive radiation treatment that can be an alternative to conventional surgery. The CyberKnife system delivers radiation beams with “T” or “tight to the tumor” accuracy. This means that CyberKnife radiosurgery is so precise, that radiation beams can target small, complex shaped tumors near critical structures of the body. The radiation beams penetrate the tumors while leaving healthy tissues unharmed.

“The introduction of the CyberKnife technology reflects St. John’s commitment to providing superior care to our patients,” says neurosurgeon Alan Scarrow, M.D., who spearheaded the effort to bring the CyberKnife to St. John’s. Scarrow is pictured above.

In April, St. John’s cardiologists were the first in the region to offer a breakthrough new treatment for atrial fibrillation, or irregular heart rhythm.

Electrophysiologists (subspecialists within cardiology) Shang-Chuin Lee, M.D. and Stanley Wiggins, M.D., perform the procedure – called catheter-based pulmonary vein isolation - in an electrophysiology lab within St. John’s Hospital’s cardiac catheterization lab. The doctor inserts several catheters into venous blood vessels (the neck and groin, usually) and advances them into the right and left atria of the heart.

“We now know the longer you have atrial fibrillation, the more frequent it becomes and the harder it is to treat,” says Wiggins. “There’s an immediate relief of symptoms following pulmonary vein ablation. This has been one of the biggest breakthroughs ever in the history of electrophysiology.”

St. John’s Clinic-Eye Specialists also continue to stay on the cutting edge of vision-improvement technology. The LADARVision laser eye surgery system, which St. John’s has offered since 2001, was recently certified and licensed by NASA and inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame for its innovative use of NASA technology in a commercial application. Since 2001, St. John’s LADARVision system has been upgraded several times. The most recent upgrade was in 2004 when the eye specialists began offering CustomCornea, the first LASIK procedure FDA-approved to provide fully customized vision improvement, including correcting vision problems that were previously undetected.

St. John’s Clinic-Eye Specialists are now using the ReSTOR intraocular lens in cataract surgery. The new lens not only restores distance vision after cataract surgery, but provides the patient with a full range of vision.

“No longer is the objective simply to restore distance vision after cataract surgery. Now the goal is to minimize the patient’s dependence on glasses, including reading glasses or bifocals, after cataract surgery,” says Jim Gessler, M.D., of St. John’s Clinic-Eye Specialists.

St. John’s general surgeons recently began performing two minimally invasive procedures to treat hemorrhoids and colon cancer.

“Traditional hemorrhoid surgery can be very painful. Many people don’t seek treatment for their hemorrhoids beyond over-the-counter medications because they’ve heard how painful surgery can be,” says surgeon John Bumberry, M.D. This new procedure results in less pain than traditional procedures because it is performed above the “pain” line inside the anal canal, affecting few nerve endings, he adds.

The new surgery, called the procedure for prolapse and hemorrhoids (PPH) repositions the anal canal tissue with a circular stapling device and restores the hemorrhoidal tissue back to its original anatomical position, reducing blood flow to the internal hemorrhoids and allowing them to shrink.

Patients undergoing colon operations for cancer and benign conditions such as diverticulitis are receiving similar benefits from minimally invasive techniques. Colon cancer patients are recovering more quickly with less pain and scarring with a new laparoscopic procedure offered at St. John’s that requires a series of small incisions rather than one large incision. A small video camera, placed inside one of the incisions, provides the surgeon with a magnified view of the patient’s internal organs on a monitor while the surgery is performed using specialized laparoscopic instruments to remove and reconnect the intestines.

“Recent studies have proven that this procedure is just as effective a treatment for colon cancer as the traditional open procedure and some studies suggest it may be even better in certain circumstances," says surgeon Cameron Hodges, M.D. “The recovery with the minimally invasive technique is truly remarkable. I've seen the average length of stay after colon surgery decrease from five to seven days with the open technique, down to two to three days with the minimally invasive technique. Many patients are able go home in less than 48 hours and get back to their busy lives."

Weight-loss surgery is now available at St. John's for those who have a body-mass index of more than 40 and have tried unsuccessfully to lose weight through diet modification and exercise. “St. John’s offers the region's most comprehensive multidisciplinary bariatic program, including clinical psychology, nutrition, exercise rehab and behavioral therapy,” says Cameron Hodges, M.D. Hodges and fellow St. John’s surgeon Christopher Edwards, M.D. perform the procedure.