September 19, 2005

Rodney Landreneau, MD and Brian Pettiford, MD Perform
The First Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy at Jameson

New Castle, PA - Rodney Landreneau, MD and Brian Pettiford, MD, thoracic surgeons of the Jameson Lung Center performed the first videoscopic, minimally invasive esophagectomy at Jameson Hospital on August 24, 2005. The patient, Susan Koch, was in extreme pain before having this procedure and could not eat. The day after her surgery, she stated she is “feeling wonderful and very grateful for Doctor Hofius, who found the cancer at such an early stage.”  This “esophagectomy” procedure is done to remove carcinomas of the esophagus. It is normally done through large open incisions to enter the chest and the abdomen. With the minimally invasive surgical approach, tiny laparoscopic incisions are used for the abdominal portion of the surgery and a small chest incision is used to attach the stomach to the esophagus after the diseased esophagus is removed.

This minimally invasive esophagectomy approach has been pioneered at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center under the direction of James Luketich, MD, director of the University’s Heart, Lung, and Esophageal Surgery Institute. Experience gained from working with Dr. Luketich has allowed for his associates, Drs. Landreneau and Pettiford to introduce this procedure for the care of esophageal cancer patients treated at Jameson Hospital.

Clinical results from the experience at the University of Pittsburgh with over 500 esophageal cancer patients undergoing minimally invasive esophagectomy have demonstrated lower mortality rates, shorter hospital stays, and earlier recovery compared to most open surgical approaches to esophagectomy. These reported results also demonstrated that minimally invasive esophagectomy offers cancer survival as good as if not better than open esophageal procedures. The Jameson patient, Susan, is incredibly satisfied with the work that the doctors performed. 

Drs. Landreneau and Pettiford are both members of the Thoracic Surgical faculty at the University of Pittsburgh within the previously mentioned Heart, Lung, and Esophageal Surgery Institute. The Thoracic Surgery group at UPMC is recognized as one of the leading surgical teams in the country. The care that is provided at Jameson Hospital’s Lung Center brings this experience, skill and expertise to the patients of New Castle and the region. This “first level” care is an integral part comprehensive surgical, medical, and radiation cancer care of the Jameson Hospital/UPMC Cancer Center scheduled to open in New Castle toward the end of 2005.