What You Need To Know
- Surgeons in the Division of Thoracic Surgery at JFK University Medical Center are the first in New Jersey to perform this surgery.
- Faiz Y. Bhora, MD, FACS, was the lead surgeon who performed this surgery.
- The patient was able to recover quickly and was discharged from the hospital in less than 3 days.
Surgeons at JFK University's Advanced Lung and Airway center successfully performed the first robotic resection of malignant thymoma followed by installation of heated chemotherapy into the chest. This is the first time this surgery has been performed in New Jersey. Faiz Y. Bhora, MD, FACS, professor and regional chair of surgery, co-director advanced lung and airway center and chief of thoracic surgery central region, was the lead surgeon who performed the surgery. “The procedure involved a patient who has a malignant thymoma involving the chest. This had spread to multiple areas throughout the patient's chest. Removal of all visible tumor in a minimally invasive fashion followed by the administration of chemotherapy directly at the site of the tumor provided this patient with the best prognosis for long term survival,” said Dr. Bhora. All tumor from the lining of the chest wall and the lung was resected using the DaVinci Robot during the initial part of the operation. A cocktail of two chemotherapy drugs was heated to 41 degrees and circulated into the patient's chest for one hour. The patient recovered very well and was discharged from the hospital in less than 3 days.
