Sheikh Zayed Institute for Paediatric Surgical Innovation first in US to destroy bone tumours

ABU DHABI, 1st June, 2015 (WAM) -- Doctors from the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Paediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National Medical Centre are the first in the US to treat osteoid osteoma, a benign but painful bone tumour that commonly occurs in children and young adults, using an experimental magnetic resonance-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound, or MR-HIFU, method. Two patients, 16-year-old Alfredo Coreas and 10-year-old Niyati Shah, have been treated successfully in a research study aimed at testing the safety and feasibility of this non-invasive and precise treatment option. "Our team set out to provide a non-invasive treatment option for children with osteoid osteoma and we’re very pleased with the success of the first two treatments," said Karun Sharma, MD, PhD, Director of Interventional Radiology at Children’s National and Principal Investigator for the osteoid osteoma trial at the Sheikh Zayed Institute. "Both children we treated were very active prior to the onset of their tumour, one a soccer player and the other a swimmer, but because of the pain from the tumour, they have been unable to enjoy their favourite activities, until now." Osteoid osteoma was previously treated with orthopaedic surgery that involved scraping the tumour from the bone or removing the affected part of the bone. The most commonly used treatment today is CT-guided radiofrequency ablation, RFA. While this is a less invasive method, it still requires drilling through muscle and soft tissue into bone. RFA also exposes the patient and operator to ionising radiation. High-intensity focused ultrasound therapy uses focused sound wave energy to heat and destroy the targeted tumour under MRI guidance. This precise and controlled method does not require a scalpel or needle, greatly reducing the risk of complications like infections and bone fractures. It is also a faster treatment option, with expected total procedure time of an hour or less. In the US, MR-HIFU is used to treat uterine fibroids and painful bone metastases from several types of cancer in adults, but it has not been used in children. This breakthrough is the latest from the Image-Guided Non-Invasive Therapeutic Energy, IGNITE, programme, a collaboration of the Sheikh Zayed Institute and the division of Radiology, Oncology, Surgery, and Anaesthesiology at Children’s National. The goal of the IGNITE programme is to improve the quality of life and outcomes for paediatric patients through the development and clinical introduction of novel minimally invasive and non-invasive surgery technologies and combination therapy approaches. The team is led by Peter Kim, MD, CM, PhD, Vice President of the Sheikh Zayed Institute. "The use of MR-HIFU ablation of osteoid osteoma is a perfect example of our mission in the Sheikh Zayed Institute to make paediatric surgery more precise, less invasive and pain-free," said Dr. Kim. "Our leading team of experts are also exploring the use of MR-HIFU as a non-invasive technique of ablating growth plates and paediatric solid tumours. We also have another clinical trial open for children and young adults with refractory soft tissue tumours, which is being performed in collaboration with Dr. Bradford Wood’s team at the National Institutes of Health, and if successful, it would be the first in the world." – Emirates News Agency, WAM - http://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395281250985.html