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18.2.11

New microscope a boon to neurosurgery at Edmonton's University Hospital

David Corneau watched video Thursday of his aneurysm surgery thanks to a new microscope at University Hospital. The Edmonton butcher’s eyes widened as he watched precise tools work his fluoresced veins on a magnified screen.

His 10-year old son has already told Corneau, who underwent the operation two weeks ago, to bring home a copy.

“He’s worried about his Dad’s life, of course, but he also thinks the whole thing is neat and now he’s going to get to see a picture.”

Corneau watched a portion of his surgery on a $338,000 neurosurgical microscope, the first of its kind in Western Canada. The equipment is the latest development in intra-operative angiography, which allow surgeons to see brain vessels like never before.

“This is a way of looking at the brain’s blood vessels directly, to inspect them and the blood flow within them, right when we’re doing a surgery,” said Dr. Max Findlay, Corneau’s neurosurgeon.

“Before, this was something we did before and after surgery with catheters in the radiology department. Now we have the ability do it right in the operating room.”

Findlay can now make sure the correction of an aneurysm, a bulge of blood in the wall of a vessel, does not kink or block any other veins. That avoids the need for a post-surgical angiogram or to go back inside the head. A kinked vessel can lead to a stroke, Findlay said, making the microscope a leap forward in patient safety.

At first, the neurosurgeon can only see a black field, but when fluorescent material is injected into the circulatory system, the veins slowly begin to glow white, allowing Findlay to easily see which veins have proper flow and which do not.

Corneau, a 33-year-old father of three, believes he only spent slightly more than a day in hospital because the new microscope gave his doctors certainty the operation had gone well.

“I’m more comfortable at home, where there isn’t nurses poking and prodding at you. If you’re healthy enough to go home, you get much better rest than in your own bed.”

Corneau went to an emergency room in August for a terrible headache. That led to a CT scan which luckily found two aneurysms unrelated to the headache. One was fixed two weeks ago, through a temporary hole in the side of his skull, and the other still needs to be done.

When he was first told of his condition, Corneau was scared by the prospect of metal tools in his brain. He wondered if the possibility of memory loss meant he wouldn’t remember his three young children. He worried he would die.

Then he met Findlay. He was calmed by talk of new, state-of-the-art technology.

“This absolutely made me feel safer. I don’t quite know how to explain it, but just the depth with which they can look at your brain and see such tiny things with such clarity. That’s a lot safer than 20 years ago, when some guy would’ve just dug around in my head.”

Including Corneau, the microscope has been used on a dozen patients since December, when it was purchased.

The microscope was purchased by funds raised from the 2010 Festival of Trees and University Hospital Foundation.
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