Cedars-Sinai Medical Tip Sheet -- World's First Fully Endoscopic Microvascular Decompression; Pituitary Tumor Surgery; Diabetes And The Holidays; Natural Cold Remedies; Colorful Human Genome Map

Skull Base Surgeons at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have successfully performed what is believed to be the world’s first fully endoscopic Microvascular Decompression, bringing immediate relief to a Los Angeles-area retired assistant principal who had suffered with the excruciating facial pain of Trigeminal Neuralgia for nearly 20 years. Using a 2.7 mm endoscope, inserted into a dime-size opening behind the ear, the micro-surgery was performed without the use of retractors, which are typically used in conventional procedures to push the cerebellum behind the brain stem, and lasted about 1.5 hours (compared to 3-5 hours for a conventional procedure). Trigeminal neuralgia is universally considered to be the most painful affliction known to adult men and women, but it is often misdiagnosed. Dr. Shahinian is also one of only a handful of surgeons nationwide to perform fully endoscopic procedures to remove pituitary tumors (see next tip).

FULLY ENDOSCOPIC PROCEDURE MAY RESULT IN SAME-DAY SKULL BASE SURGERY FOR PITUITARY TUMORS

A fully endoscopic procedure now available at the Skull Base Institute at Cedars-Sinai is resulting in minimally invasive, highly successful surgery for patients with pituitary tumors and other skull base disorders. According to Hrayr Shahinian, M.D., director of the Skull Base Institute, the new procedure utilizes a tiny endoscope – 2.8mm wide and 20cm long -- with angled tips to provide a panoramic view of the brain. Because the point of entry is through a nostril, there is no scarring, the brain is undisturbed and both the time required for the actual surgical procedure, as well as the overall recovery time are dramatically reduced. Most patients go home within 24 hours.

COPING WITH DIABETES DURING THE HOLIDAYS

Rich, sugary holiday foods offer a special challenge for people with diabetes. Riccardo Perfetti, M.D., Ph.D. Director of the Endocrine Training Program; and Director of the Outpatient Diabetes and Weight Management Programs at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, offers tips that help people with diabetes make healthful choices during the holidays.

A BAKER’S DOZEN COLD REMEDIES THAT STILL WORK A CENTURY LATER

Even as medical science continues to search into the next century for a cure for the common cold, many of the herbs, spices and concoctions grandma used at the dawn of this century can still make the symptoms more manageable today, says Mary L. Hardy, M.D., board- certified specialist in internal medicine and a member of the American Botanical Society and the American Holistic Medical Association. Steaming hot chicken soup, for example, not only helps break up nasal congestion, but also contains garlic, which has antibiotic properties.

COLORFUL HUMAN GENOME MAP MAKES THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE; DOCTORS KNOW WHERE TO LOOK FOR CANCER CLUES, GENETIC DIAGNOSES

Scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have devised the first comprehensive color-coded guide to the human genome. The effort integrates three ways of looking at the human genome by marking critical points with lantern-like signposts that can be seen under a fluorescent light. The culmination of eight years of work at Cedars-Sinai and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the study appeared in the October issue of the scientific journal, Genome Research.