Innovative Treatment for Lung Cancer

BALTIMORE, MD — Harbor Hospital will webcast an innovative treatment for lung cancer on January 15, 2005 from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. (EST). The VATS lobectomy procedure will be hosted by Farid Gharagozloo, M.D., F.A.C.S. Drs. Marc Margolis and Matthew A. Facktor will perform the procedure.

“This is a relatively new procedure that can benefit patients with lung cancer,” commented Dr. Gharagozloo. “They can return to their lives quickly and with less trauma.”

“VATS” stands for video-assisted thoracic surgery. The lobectomy was developed to find a safer way to perform small tumor resections, building on the successes of laparoscopic surgeries. As a result they have successfully performed hundreds of the procedures using three one to two-inch incisions on the chest and along the back and side of the patient.

“It is not without its challenges,” continued Dr. Gharagozloo. These will be discussed in the webcast, along with the procedures benefits.

Harbor Hospital decided to feature the VATS lobectomy in a webcast to acquaint physicians with this alternative to traditional thoracotomy. It is anticipated that a number of surgeons and medical students from around the country and the world will log on to watch the procedure, which will be fully narrated by Dr. Gharagozloo and produced by a team of professional videographers. Dr. Gharagozloo began performing the procedure at Georgetown University, where he was Director of Thoracic Surgery. He continued his work with VATS at George Washington University, where he is Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery. Dr. Gharagozloo formed a partnership with Harbor Hospital in 2002 to work with Dr. Ko-Pen Wang, an interventional pulmonologist and bronchoscopist, whose minimally invasive diagnostic techniques for lung cancer have revolutionized the field.

Harbor Hospital is part of MedStar Health, a not-for-profit, community-based healthcare organization comprised of 25 integrated businesses including seven major hospitals in the Baltimore/Washington area. The other hospitals, which include both teaching and community facilities, are Franklin Square Hospital Center, Good Samaritan Hospital and Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Georgetown University Hospital, National Rehabilitation Hospital, and Washington Hospital Center in the District of Columbia.

The third-largest employer in the region with more than 22,000 employees and over 4,000 affiliated physicians, MedStar Health hospitals and healthcare organizations serve more than half-a-million patients each year.

MedStar Health is based in Columbia, Maryland and is one of the largest health systems in the mid-Atlantic region. Areas of clinical excellence include cardiology, cardiac surgery, oncology services, rehabilitation, orthopedic surgery, hand surgery, women’s services and emergency and trauma services.

MedStar Health’s comprehensive services include primary, urgent and sub acute care, medical education and research. Other health-related services include assisted living, home health, hospice and long-term care. MedStar Health also operates nursing homes, senior housing, adult day care, rehabilitation and ambulatory centers. The organization also maintains MedStar Physician Partners, a comprehensive physician network in the Baltimore-Washington area.