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New Technology Leads to Quicker Results
A trip to the gastroenterologist for abdominal pains started a chain of events
that led a Point Pleasant man to a quick diagnosis at Ocean Medical Center.
It all started when 72-year-old
Hugh V. Hughes, from Point
Pleasant, was getting the battery
replaced in his defibrillator
pacemaker. During the replacement,
Hugh talked to his doctor about
some persistent abdominal pains
he was experiencing. A CT scan
was ordered, which revealed a spot
on his liver, so more tests were
ordered, including an MRI.
When the MRI results came
back, Hugh got some good news
and some bad news. The good
news was that the spot on his
liver was nothing. But a mass
on his pancreas was also
detected, and it couldn’t yet
be determined whether it was
cancerous or not.
By this time, Hugh was seeing
Neal Winzelberg, M.D., a boardcertified
gastroenterologist at
Ocean Medical Center, who
recommended a new procedure
being performed by two of his
colleagues, Pacifico Magahis, Jr.,
M.D., and Kenny Chiu, M.D.
Alternative to Major Surgery
The new procedure is called
endoscopic ultrasound-guided
fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA),
a minimally invasive technology
that quickly and accurately diagnoses
cancer in the pancreas, lung,
gastrointestinal tract, colon, esophagus,
and associated areas without a major
surgical procedure. EUS-FNA takes,
on average, an hour to perform, versus
traditional surgery, which takes seven
to eight hours. And while the wait time
for a scheduled surgery can be a matter
of months, EUS-FNA can be scheduled in two weeks. Thus, if cancer is present,
the patient can find out sooner and,
in turn, treatment can be started sooner.
Dr. Chiu describes this new
procedure, starting with the fact that
before every EUS-FNA, an I.V. sedation
is given, "similar to what you would
receive for a colonoscopy." Then an
endoscope with ultrasound probe is
inserted into the patient, allowing highresolution
images to be taken of the
mass and surrounding areas. "These
images are more precise than traditional
CT scans and MRIs since the pictures
are taken from inside the body, which
means less interference from other
organs." Once the camera is in place,
a very thin needle is inserted to collect
a sample of the mass.
According to Dr. Magahis,
"Another advantage of EUSFNA
is that a pathologist
is in the room during the
procedure and can tell us
if the sample is adequate and
also give preliminary results
immediately." But the
greatest benefit of EUS-FNA
is the ease of locating and
diagnosing hard-to-reach
masses that previously
required major surgery and
extensive recovery time.
Nothing to Worry About
Hugh woke up from his
procedure feeling fine, but
he was anxious for the results.
Drs. Magahis and Chiu were delighted
to pass on only good
news this time:
Hugh’s mass was
a cyst that required nothing other than draining the fluid.
Everything else looked great.
Needless to say, Hugh was
tremendously relieved. "I am very
thankful that I went with EUS-FNA,"
he says, "and that I didn’t have to
have major surgery for something
that ended up to be nothing. Plus,
I got my results that day and didn’t
have to wait and worry if I had cancer."
 – Brenda Groeller
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