Neurosurgeon Michael Burke, MD, removed a tumor in a pediatric patient using endoscopic clipping and artery cauterization, reports Rio Grande Guardian.
Three insights:
1. The patient was an infant diagnosed with a benign brain tumor. Severe brain damage was likely to occur if the tumor grew.
2. Dr. Burke used an endoscope at DHR Health in Edenburg, Texas, to pass a micro clip through the arteries and clip the tumor.
3. In a second procedure, he passed a micro cautery wire through the endoscope to cauterize the arteries beyond the clip and used micro scissors to transact the arteries and free the tumor.
"This procedure took about an hour and a half whereas a catheter procedure can take much of the day," Dr. Burke said. "My technique completely freed the tumor allowing for the second procedure to open a plate of bone in the back of the head and formally remove the tumor in less than an hour."