76-Year-Old Is First To Undergo HIFU
Procedure In India
To reduce pain and high risk involved in
surgical treatment, prostate cancer patients can now opt for a non-surgical,
radiation-free procedure.
The High
Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) procedure — a non-invasive and
non-ionizing procedure — was introduced for the first time in Karnataka, with a
76-year-old patient undergoing it on Wednesday.
Dr S K Raghunath, uro-oncologist,
Health-Care Global Enterprises Ltd (HCG), said the procedure was successful and
the patient was responding well. “Since HIFU was conducted for the first time,
it took time
to plan. It began at 4.30pm and ended at
8.30pm. There was no blood loss or scar. Since the patient is 76 years old, he
will have to stay in hospital for a day, and will be discharged on Thursday or
Friday.’’
The treatment is typically a two- to
three-hour procedure performed once, primarily on out-patient basis under
spinal anaesthesia. “Patients start walking within hours, and can return to a
normal life within a couple of days,” he added.
HIFU technology uses ultrasound to destroy
deep-seated tissue with pinpoint accuracy. “An acoustic ablation technique, it
targets sound waves to the affected area, rapidly increasing temperature by
90-95 degrees in that zone, causing tissue destruction,’’ Dr Raghunath said.
A
gift of health for retd teachers
On Teachers Day, 100 retired teachers with
arthritis will undergo total joint replacement surgery for free.
Sparsh Foundation, a charitable wing of
Sparsh Hospital, will hold ‘Sparsh Guru Namana — Tribute to Teachers’ programme
from September 5 to 12 for teachers who were screened by the medical team on
June 25 and 26.
The service, which costs Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs
2 lakh per patient, will also be extended to retired teachers from across the
state.
They can fix an appointment by contacting
the following numbers —9743214890, 9008475000 — or the Sparsh Foundation at
Narayana Health City on Hosur Road, at 080 27835921/22. This is for a screening
test on August 16 and 17 between 9am and 5pm at the hospital in Bangalore.
The retired teachers need to carry an ID
proof of their services as a teacher and previous medical records if .
EARLY DIAGNOSIS IS IMPORTANT
“We were able to diagnose the cancer in the
early stages. After evaluating that his fitness, we went ahead with the
procedure,” Dr S K Raghunath, urooncologist,
HealthCare Global Enterprises Ltd (HCG), said. Before starting treatment, the
age of the patient, general condition, stage and grade of the disease and
patient’s preference are considered. “It is helpful for the elderly who are
unfit for surgery, with little or no chance of erectile dysfunction and
incontinence,” he said. Mukesh Rana, country manager, India HIFU, said the
procedure confirms whether the cancerous tissue has been treated.
HOW COMMON IS IT?
In India, prostate cancer is the fifth most
common cancer and fourth leading cause of mortality. In 2009, 18,000 new cases
were diagnosed. There has been a 1% increase every year.
MORE ABOUT PROSTATE CANCER
·
Patients
are often asymptomatic
·
No
symptoms in early stages
·
Early
stage cases are diagnosed either because of digital rectal exam or because of
PSA blood test used for screening cancer
·
Symptoms
indicate advanced stage
SYMPTOMS
OF ADVANCED PROSTATE CANCER
·
Weak
urinary stream or slow stream
·
Difficulty
in initiation of urination
·
Difficulty
emptying the bladder
·
Burning
sensation during urination
·
Blood in
urine, limb endema, weight loss and bone pain
·
Incidence
increasing continuously for those over 20 yrs old
·
Rise in
incidence is partially caused by improved detection capability, especially
using prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test
·
Currently,
75-85% of prostate cancers are not organ-confined in India because of lack of
awareness. Hence, HCG is planning to start awareness programmes and campaigns
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