Oct 25, 2006 6:33 pm US/Eastern
Children's Hospital Webcasts Brain Surgery
by Dr. Mallika Marshall
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Neurosurgeons at Children's Hospital Boston removed a brain tumor from a 13-year-old patient during a live webcast Wednesday afternoon.
An 11-year-old brain tumor patient who recently underwent a similar procedure and his family answered e-mail questions with other neurosurgeons throughout the broadcast.
Children's Hospital says it hosts three to four surgical webcasts a year. Anyone who missed it can watch an archived version on the
hospital's web site beginning Thursday.
This webcast featured the hospital's intraoperative MRI system, which captures digital images of the patient through a ceiling-mounted, movable MRI scanner.
The scanner takes high-resolution, real-time scans before, during and after the operation, so surgeons can determine the extent of the tumor so it is removed completely and accurately.
"In about 15 percent of cases, we've saved children a trip back to the O.R. and it also allows us to find tumors that we might not have been able to find in a standard O.R." said Dr. Mark Proctor.
The unidentified patient is expected to remain in intensive care for a few days. If all goes well, he should be able to leave the hospital in about a week.
WBZ4 featured another 13-year-old patient who had successful surgery with the same MR-OR device back in March.
Read and watch the story on our
WBZ4 Kids page.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
