Published on the May 27, 2016, DiagnosticImaging.com website
By Whitney L.J. Howell
This month, medical news has been filled with fanfare about the first successful penis transplantation in the United States. According to all reports, the surgery was a success, but little attention has been paid to why the procedure went so well.
Working collaboratively, it took a multidisciplinary team of a dozen surgeons and approximately 30 additional members to attach a penis from a deceased donor to a 64-year-old man who had his penis removed due to penile cancer. But, crucial to this win , buried under the spectacle– and driving the capability to correctly attach the organ and provide full functionality – was radiology. Having clear glimpses into the body was critical for the surgical team.
“Radiology was integral because they created a road map for us with the diagnostic arterial angiography, CT angiography, and MRI,” said co-lead surgeon Dicken Ko, MD, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Urology Regional Program and associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. “We could actually define how much tissue was left behind and what the possibilities were for reconstruction.”
To read the remainder of the story at its original location: http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/interventional-radiology/unsung-hero-first-us-penile-transplant-radiology
