Jun 2, 2008 1:22 pm US/Eastern
Kennedy Brain Surgery Is A Risky Procedure
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Targeted brain surgery like that for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy is a delicate balance -- removing as much tumor as possible improves cancer control, but there's also the risk of harming healthy brain tissue that lets patients walk and talk.
Kennedy, 76, was scheduled to undergo the surgery at Duke University Medical Center. He was diagnosed last month with a malignant glioma, an especially lethal type of brain tumor.
WBZ's Dr. Mallika Marshall answered these common questions about the surgery Monday:
Q: So what does this kind of brain surgery typically entail? Dr. Marshall: "This is all speculation, of course, because we're not being given many details, but during standard brain surgery, the neurosurgeon will remove a piece of skull to expose the area of brain over the tumor. Then using special x-rays or scans, the surgeon can visualize the tumor to see exactly where to begin cutting. In some cases, the patient remains awake or sedated so that the surgeon can probe certain areas of surrounding tissue to see how the patient responds, whether poking this area or that produces a twitch of a leg or twitch of an arm, or whether the patient's speech is affected, and that helps them determine what tissue they can safely remove and which tissue should be left behind because removing it would affect the patient's function. We know that this area of the brain in question, the parietal lobe, is involved in sensation and speech and is fairly close to areas that affect motor function. So surgeons will want to be careful to preserve as much brain function as possible for the senator."
Q: What kind of risks are involved with this surgery? Dr. Marshall: "Well, difficult tasks are often compared to rocket science or brain surgery because brain surgery is highly complicated and risky. As with any surgery, bleeding and infection are possible complications, and as you can imagine, that would be particularly bad for the brain. And then because you are removing brain tissue, there's always the risk that the patient could suffer permanent neurological damage."
Q: Why Duke University? Dr. Marshall: "Of course, there are wonderful doctors and surgeons at Mass General Hospital, but the senator's team of doctors decided to refer him to Duke, I'm assuming, because they're world renowned for cutting edge brain surgery."
Q: Tell us a little about the doctor performing the surgery. Dr. Marshall: "
Dr. Allan Friedman is internationally known for his skills as a neurosurgeon. He specializes in primary malignant brain tumors, like the malignant glioma that he senator has, and is conducting research to find better treatments for these types of tumors. He is the Chief of Neurosurgery at Duke and performs the vast majority of brain tumor operations there."
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