Spring 2008
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Minimally Invasive Diagnostic Center Opens
Ali Musani, MD, leaned down to his patient Barbara Lanford and told her, “I don’t see any cancer.”
Although lightly sedated, Ms. Lanford let out an audible sigh of relief and signaled her pleasure with a thumbs up. Instead of having to undergo surgery and stay overnight in a hospital, Ms. Lanford had gotten her diagnosis in 45 minutes, thanks to the skills of Dr. Musani and state-of-the-art technology available at the recently opened Minimally Invasive Diagnostic Center (MIDC). She was on her way home in three hours.
Dr. Musani and his colleagues in the MIDC provide a variety of diagnostic, therapeutic and palliative procedures, including the early diagnosis and staging of lung cancer and other diseases of the chest, treatment of airway obstructions caused by cancer and other disorders, removal of foreign bodies from the lungs, and the placement of stents in the airways. In addition, pulmonologists, gastroenterologists and otolaryngologists perform many other procedures, including bronchoscopy, endoscopy, colonoscopy, laryngoscopy and allergic desensitization.
Dr. Musani came to National Jewish in early 2008. He is one of the world’s leaders in interventional pulmonology, an emerging field that bridges the gap between thoracic surgery and general pulmonary medicine.
The procedures he performs are most commonly done with a bronchoscope inserted in the patient’s airway. A growing range of tiny tools, including a high-definition camera, ultrasound probe, lasers, needles and forceps, can be threaded through the bronchoscope to guide and perform the procedures both inside and near the airways. In addition, Dr. Musani can use a Super Dimension navigation system to find even very tiny nodules deep within the lungs that need examination.
“A minimally invasive approach combined with mind-boggling technology allows interventional pulmonology to achieve what was unimaginable just a few years ago or required invasive and extensive surgeries,” said Dr. Musani.
