Quicker Pathology Results
Reported January 14, 2005
MIAMI, Fla. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) — Getting results back from a biopsy can mean 24 hours of waiting and stress. But a new technology allows doctors to get results to patients quicker.
Helping her son with his homework is part of Marisela Lopetegui’s daily routine. But that routine was disrupted when doctors found a lump on one of her breasts. “All my life; all my plans for my children, for my family, were down,” she says.
Lopetegui underwent a biopsy to determine if the lump was cancerous. Getting final results back usually takes at least a day, but Lopetegui’s surgical oncologist at University of Miami School of Medicine in Florida gave her the results in just two hours.
“I can tell the patient, ‘Go to the cafeteria; come back in an hour and a half, and I will tell you what’s going on,” Eli Avisar, M.D., tells Ivanhoe.
University of Miami School of Medicine Pathologist Azorides Morales, M.D., developed the machine that processes the tissue samples quicker. “Believe it or not, with microwave,” he says, “The same microwave that you use in your kitchen, kitchen microwave; that is central to what we are doing here.”
The goal is to quickly process the sample so it can be analyzed under a microscope. Rather than heating the tissue, the microwaves enhance dehydration — making moisture easier to extract. Researchers can also examine the genes within the tissues.
Dr. Morales says, “This will be extraordinarily important, and this is where we are moving in medicine.”
Not only did Lopetegui get her results more quickly, she also got good news. “He told me everything will be good. It was a new life. I felt like a new woman,” she says.
Dr. Morales says the new technology can be used for all kinds of biopsies. He says more than 30 centers around the country have the new machine, and studies show the new pathology report is just as effective as standard methods.
If you would like more information, please contact:
Omar Montejo
Public Relations
University of Miami School of Medicine
Miami, FL
(305) 243-5654
omontejo@med.miami.edu