GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – A neurosurgeon with Prevea Health is the first in Wisconsin to introduce a breakthrough surgical tool that assists in the removal of brain tumors.
“This allows us to be aggressive in areas we know are tumors and preserve the normal brain around it,” says Dr. Joseph Chabot.
Chabot took part in the clinical trials for Gleolan that led to its federal approval in 2017. He says it gives surgeons a better idea of what they’re looking at during the operation.
“It’s difficult sometimes to say ‘this is normal brain and this is a tumor’ – so what this does, is it makes the tumor look pink and the normal brain around it look bluish gray,” Chabot says.
He points out that ability to visually differentiate the tumor and normal brain tissue during the operation is extremely helpful technology. Chabot says usually surgeons have to wait for post-op scans to see if they removed the entire tumor.
“You get your imaging after the surgery and say ‘man, I wish I could’ve taken some of that out.’ But you remember you were uncomfortable in that spot because you couldn’t tell if it was tumor or normal brain.”
Patients take Gleolan 2-4 hours prior to surgery. Doctors then use a specialized blue light filter on a microscope to monitor the cancerous cells during the operation. But Chabot says no solution is perfect.
“It can’t replace training and surgical judgment, but it gives us another tool to help make those decisions,” Chabot tells WTAQ News, “sometimes you look at something that lights up pink and you look at your imaging and say ‘that’s a really dangerous place’ and you would make the decision in surgery to leave that behind because taking too much can really hurt a patient with a functioning brain.”
Chabot praises Prevea Health and HSHS St. Vincent Hospital for taking steps forward in helping surgeons and patients alike.
He says “the commitment to obtaining this dye and also the special microscope to visualize the dye shows their commitment to cutting edge technology.”
The treatment focuses specifically on glioma, including high-grade glioblastoma, which has impacted public figures like the late Sen. John McCain.
