DANBURY HOSPITAL PHYSICIANS PERFORM FIRST MINIMALLY INVASIVE SURGERY TO PLACE INFUSION PUMP

Procedure Minimizes Pain, Accelerates Chemotherapy Treatment at the Praxair Cancer

DANBURY, CT -- March 26, 2002 -- The Praxair Cancer Center and the Department of Surgery at Danbury Hospital announce the completion of an advanced, minimally invasive procedure to place a chemotherapy infusion pump for the treatment of cancer. Pierre F. Saldinger, M.D., Chief of General Surgery and a specialist in surgery of the liver, pancreas and bile ducts, and Patrick Malloy, M.D., Chairman, Department of Radiology and an interventional radiologist, performed the procedure March 18 on an adult patient with cancer. It is the first minimally invasive surgery performed in the United States to place a chemotherapy pump for cancer treatment.
The procedure is part of the Hospitals research protocol known as Transintercostal Placement of Hepatic Artery Infusion Pump for the Treatment of Metastatic Tumors of the Liver," for selected patients with colon cancer that has spread to the liver. The technique, using an infusion pump manufactured by Arrow International, allows some patients to avoid major surgery to place a pump in the abdomen, while minimizing surgical pain and delivering chemotherapy directly to the liver. Dr. Saldinger is principal investigator of the study and the co-investigators are Dr. Malloy and John Pezzimenti, M.D., Director of Cancer Medicine at Danbury Hospital and Chief, Hematology/Oncology at Danbury Hospital.
   When colon cancer has spread to the liver and these tumors cannot be surgically removed, one of the next possible steps would be open abdominal surgery to place a tube (catheter) into the artery feeding the liver. This allows chemotherapy to be infused directly into the liver," said Dr. Saldinger. With this new technique, we are attempting to achieve the same goals while helping these patients avoid a major operation."
Under general anesthesia in the operating room, the minimally invasive procedure involves a two-inch incision on the left side of the abdomen. A small tube is fed through the hepatic artery (vessel supplying blood to the liver). The tube will then be connected to a pump that is about half the size of a hockey puck; this pump is placed through a second small incision on the left side of the abdomen.
Following testing to ensure the pump is in the proper position, chemotherapy can be loaded into the pump to deliver treatment directly to the liver. The pump and catheter can be left in place for the duration of treatment or indefinitely to be reused if there is a recurrence of cancer.
   According to Dr. Pezzimenti, current standard treatments for colon cancer that has spread to the liver include conventional chemotherapy or pump placement via major abdominal surgery.
We have a strong research program that encompasses some of the latest trials for a variety of cancers," said Dr. Pezzimenti. Our mission to provide the regions most comprehensive cancer services focuses on efficiency, compassion and concern for patient well-being. Part of that commitment involves continuing to enhance care with new expertise and research that will offer hope now and in the coming decades for patients and families affected by this disease."
Dr. Malloy said, By combining the expertise of interventional radiology and surgical oncology, we were able to pioneer the development of this technique for delivering chemotherapy. We hope that this technique will significantly decrease patient morbidity and potentially expand the treatment options for people with cancer."
Dr. Saldinger is the first and current recipient of the Carmen and Peter Buck Chair in Surgical Oncology and serves as co-chairman of the Hospitals Gastrointestinal Cancer Tumor Board, which provides patients with a multidisciplinary review of their diagnoses to develop the most comprehensive treatment plans available. Prior to joining Danbury Hospital, Dr. Saldinger was the surgical director of the Liver and Gastrointestinal Surgery Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, and an assistant professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School.
Danbury Hospital is a 371-bed community teaching hospital in Fairfield County, Connecticut. Opened in 2001, its Praxair Cancer Center consolidated several decades of progress in cancer medicine at Danbury Hospital to offer one of the most technologically advanced, modern and comfortable facilities in Connecticut. The Hospital is approved by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, is a member of the American Association of Community Cancer Centers and serves as the Western Connecticut Affiliate of the Yale Cancer Center.
For more information on Arrow International and its Model 3000 Constant Flow Implantable Infusion Pump, visit the company at www.arrowpumps.com.

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