These are the latest procedures and newest technologies from metro Atlanta’s medical practitioners.
Emory Proton Therapy Center
The Only Proton Therapy Center in the State of Georgia
The latest tool to fight cancer is here in Atlanta. The new Emory Proton Therapy Center offers the most advanced radiation treatment available, under the care and expertise of renowned specialists at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Georgia’s only National Cancer Institute–designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Proton therapy combines advances in radiation technology, engineering, and medical physics to deliver a treatment precisely where needed—with less spillover to adjacent healthy tissue. That means less radiation exposure to normal tissues and the potential for fewer side effects and complications, especially for cancers near sensitive organs, and for children whose tissues are still developing.
The Emory Proton Therapy Center, located just two blocks from Emory University Hospital Midtown, is the only facility of its kind in the state of Georgia, and one of only a few in the Southeast to offer this leading-edge type of radiation treatment. Proton therapy is used to treat tumors in sensitive areas and results in fewer side effects and treatment risks.
Research at the center is already underway on how to improve proton therapy, broaden its applications, and expand the understanding of which patients will benefit most from this therapy.
Georgia Urology
Georgia Urology Welcomes Dr. John Stites
Georgia Urology, the largest urology practice in Atlanta and throughout the Southeast, welcomes Dr. John Stites to its Lawrenceville and Snellville locations in Gwinnett County.
“Georgia Urology is a fantastic place to practice our craft,” says Dr. Stites. “It’s well established, there’s structure and support, and there’s a vested interest on the part of the partners that you don’t have with other practices. It allows autonomy but also provides amazing guidance when you need it.”
Dr. Stites, a fellowship-trained physician who received his Doctor of Medicine degree at University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, specializes in prostate cancer, kidney stones, and robotic surgery of the kidney and prostate.
“I have the privilege of working in one of the most technologically advancing fields in our specialty,” Dr. Stites says. “Treatments are becoming less invasive with shorter recovery periods. It’s a win-win because we’re able to do our job more efficiently with a lower complication rate, and patients reap the benefits.”
With the addition of Dr. Stites, current and future Georgia Urology patients are gaining greater access to a growing team of dedicated experts. Georgia Urology physicians manage all urological problems in men, women, and children with personalized, compassionate, and comprehensive care.
Gwinnett Medical Group, Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgeons
Common Myths About Open Heart Surgery
“Heart disease is not one specific illness, but rather a general term that encompasses different conditions,” explains David A. Langford, MD, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Gwinnett Medical Center. That’s why the experts at GMC utilize everything from medications and devices to procedures and surgeries.
It’s time to stop believing these four common myths about open-heart surgery:
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Open-heart surgery requires opening the chest
While the words “open heart” may conjure up images of an invasive surgery, that isn’t the case. Many open-heart surgeries are now minimally invasive. -
The doctors that perform these surgeries are only open-heart specialists
Many of them are actually cardiothoracic surgeons, which means they have undergone extensive training to treat any condition that affects one or more of the organs in the chest, including, but not limited to the heart, lungs, and esophagus. -
They only perform one type of procedure
Open-heart surgery includes several different procedure types that can include everything from a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) to transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). -
I’ll never need one of those procedures
Actually, coronary heart disease, the most common type of heart disease, affects over 15 million Americans and may be treated with a CABG. On the other hand, TAVR is an effective treatment option for those with heart valve disease—nearly 5 million diagnosed annually.
Peachtree Orthopedics
Hip Care From the Nation’s Top Specialists
Meet Dominic Carreira, MD, one of the nation’s leading specialists in hip arthroscopy—a minimally invasive technique that treats damaged structures around the hip joint in an effort to reduce pain and preserve the joint.
The most common conditions treated by hip arthroscopy are labrum damage, femoral acetabular impingement, articular cartilage damage, ligamentum teres tearing, removal of loose bodies floating around the hip joint, and inflammation (synovitis), spine impingement, and snapping of the hip.
Because of the difficulty in accessing the hip joint, hip arthroscopy has developed more slowly than procedures for other ailing joints. But with advances over the last 10 years in technique, instrumentation, and outcome assessments, hip arthroscopy has become much more popular with better outcomes.
The procedure takes from one to three hours, and patients are able to return to some mobility in the first few weeks after the surgery. Followed by physical therapy, patients usually return to full use and mobility between three and six months.
Not only is Dr. Carreira one of the only physicians in the Atlanta area that performs hip arthroscopy, he has performed over 2,000 cases in 10 years. He regularly publishes and presents on this topic in both national and international journals and meetings.
