Intraoperative MRI and angiography confirms retinoblastoma chemotherapy treatment
MINNEAPOLIS, MN /CNW/ - IMRIS Inc. (NASDAQ: IMRS; TSX: IM) ("IMRIS" or the "Company") today announced that Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT, neurosurgeons are confirming effective chemotherapy delivery in treating eye cancer using intraoperative imaging within the VISIUS® Surgical Theatre.
Selective intra-arterial chemotherapy is a growing strategy for treating retinoblastomas - a rapid growth cancer in the eye primarily affecting infants. The technique allows for delivery of an increased concentration of the drug directly to the tumor and reduces the need to use systemically delivered chemotherapy which can cause significant side effects.
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Using the VISIUS Surgical Theatre with iMRI during the treatment procedure is a novel approach to this strategy that permits Yale neurosurgeons to confirm successful delivery of chemotherapy at the tumor site. "Combining the intraoperative MRI with biplane angiography has allowed us to rapidly acquire an intraoperative MRI and indirectly confirm that the chemotherapy reached the site of interest," said Dr. Ketan R. Bulsara, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Director of Neuroendovascular and Skull-Base Surgery at Yale School of Medicine. He believes Yale-New Haven Hospital is the first to use the iMRI for confirming this treatment method.
The VISIUS Surgical Theatre at Yale-New Haven Hospital features a high-field iMRI that moves between three rooms for diagnostic and surgical usage. Installed in 2010, the multi-disciplinary suite also has biplane angiography in the third room to add a true intraoperative imaging advantage to neurosurgical, endovascular and microsurgical operating capabilities. The VISIUS iMRI does not require the patient to be moved from the OR table to other rooms for scanning because the MR moves on ceiling rails, so optimum positioning for neurosurgery is never compromised and typical clinical workflow is not impacted.
For the retinoblastoma cases, the Yale-New Haven setup allows Dr. Bulsara to use angiography to guide the drug delivery catheter from the entry point at the femoral (leg) artery to the ophthalmic (eye) artery. The surgeon can then confirm that the chemotherapy reached the site of interest using iMRI - all in a single procedural space without ever moving the patient.
A case report on the initial patient using iMRI, a seven-month-old infant, was published in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery in Nov. 2012. Multiple patients have been treated since then, and in these cases complete tumor remission has been seen so far, according to Bulsara. He added that this has avoided the need to remove the eye or the need for systemic chemotherapy for these patients.
