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Have chronic sinus infections? Try Balloon Sinuplasty
Have chronic sinus infections? Try balloons
BY GALE SMITH
Dr. Henry Vu hated his occasional nose bleeds. They were as annoying as the smog he thought caused them. He figured the Houston air and pollution wreaked havoc on everyone’s sinuses, so why should he be any different?
Eventually, the bleeding became more frequent and even more annoying. Between the single father’s hectic work schedule as an anesthesiologist in the Texas Medical Center and spending time with his young daughter, he didn’t have the patience to deal with this problem.
But a conversation with a colleague stunned him, and the 44-year-old Vu started paying attention.
While working in an operating room one day, his nose started bleeding heavily. He asked a colleague to check him out. The biopsy result shocked him. He had nasopharyngeal (nose) cancer. The annoyance had become his worst nightmare.“Initially, I didn’t believe the biopsy. This kind of cancer is common in Chinese men, and I’m Vietnamese, so I thought it was a mistake,” Vu said.
ut when I finally accepted the diagnosis, I was worried for my daughter’s future. My doctor told me I would have six months to live if I didn’t undergo the treatment regimen.” “B
Vu persevered through the six months of radiation and chemotherapy, and through the pain and fatigue, all the while remembering that he had to survive for his young daughter. He beat the cancer.
Environmental irritants not to blame
But within weeks of becoming cancer-free, his nose started bothering him again. This time, he experienced a different set of problems — a runny nose, severe facial pain, headaches and nasal congestion. Once again, Vu thought the Houston air was to blame. Turns out, the cancer treatment left scarring in his nasal passage, causing him to have severe sinusitis.
“I tried saline irrigation and steroids. Nothing worked,” he said.
He talked with colleagues and knew traditional sinus surgery would have been too invasive, since radiation decreases blood supply to the surrounding tissues, and traditional surgical manipulation in these areas can cause non-healing wounds or bone infections.
After living with the sinus infections for more than a year, Vu had enough. He had heard about a minimally invasive procedure called Balloon Sinuplasty™. He turned to his long-time friend, Dr. Mas Takashima, a head and neck surgeon at The Methodist Hospital. He knew Takashima performed this procedure and, more importantly, he trusted him.
“Being in the medical field I wanted something noninvasive and effective so I could return to my life quickly,” Vu said.
Although Takashima was one of the first surgeons in Texas to use this technique for routine sinus infections, Vu turned out to be Takashima’s first nasopharyngeal cancer patient to undergo the procedure.
“It is much like angioplasty of the heart arteries, but instead, the balloon expands the opening of the sinuses,” said Takashima, assistant professor of otolaryngology at Baylor College of Medicine.
During Vu’s procedure, Takashima inserted a small balloon catheter to quickly open and expand the blocked sinuses. In Vu’s case, his right maxillary sinus was infected. The small, flexible balloon catheter was placed through the right nostril into the blocked sinus passageway.
Takashima inflated the balloon, causing microfractures to the bone like crackled paint on a 16th century vase. These small fractures gently restructured the nasal passageway, allowing Takashima to create a larger opening in the sinuses. By doing so, he restored normal drainage and function to Vu’s nose with virtually no tissue trauma.
Patients who undergo Balloon Sinuplasty have significantly less bleeding, trauma and nose swelling, and many who undergo this endoscopic (use of scopes to see inside the nasal cavity) procedure are able to return to normal activities within 24 hours.
“The biggest complaint I receive from patients who have had traditional sinus surgery is that they don’t like having their noses packed after surgery. With Balloon Sinuplasty, we don’t have to do that.”
A chronic health problem
Sinusitis is one of the most common chronic health problems in the United States, afflicting 37 million Americans each year. Sinus problems can significantly impact a person’s physical, functional and emotional quality of life.
According to Takashima, the nose protects itself from environmental irritants such as allergens and pollution by creating mucus. As this occurs, the nasal passages swell, and the small opening to the sinuses becomes blocked. Once the fluid in the sinus area stagnates, bacteria sets in, causing infection and more swelling occurs, perpetuating the cycle.
Until recently, sinusitis patients were limited to two treatment options — medical therapy, such as antibiotics
and topical nasal steroids, or conventional sinus surgery, which requires bone and tissue removal to open blocked sinus passageways.
“Balloon Sinuplasty is a great advance in sinus care because it means faster recovery times and less discomfort afterward,” according to Dr. Gene Alford, a plastic facial and reconstructive surgeon at Methodist who performs the procedure, as well as trains other physicians on how to perform it. “This procedure also can work for people who have undergone traditional surgery but continue to suffer from sinusitis or scar tissue.”
Balloon Sinuplasty is most effective for the frontal sinuses, located in the forehead, because they are difficult to access by traditional surgical means, but the procedure also can be used for most other sinuses.
Takashima and Alford have performed nearly 70 of these procedures at Methodist. Alford also has trained seven physicians, using sinuplasty equipment and demonstrating the placement of the balloon catheter, inflation and other aspects of its use.
As for Vu, he is breathing much easier these days. The cancer is gone, and he spends quality time with his daughter. He hopes other nose cancer patients in similar situations will be able to have Balloon Sinuplasty if it is the best option available for their care.
“I’m doing great,” Vu said. “No more chronic sinusitis and no more antibiotics. This was the perfect solution for me.”
To obtain a physician referral, call 713.790.3333 or visit methodisthealth.com.
Ranking reflects commitment and quality
Physicians like Drs.Mas Takashima and Gene Alford play a significant role in The Methodist Hospital’s commitment to quality of care for ear,nose and throat (ENT) patients.This commitment is reflected nationally in U.S.News & World Report’s 2007 Best Hospitals rankings, where Methodist’s ENT (otolaryngology) department is ranked 18th in the nation. One of the reasons for this recognition is the advanced services that ENT patients have access to at Methodist.These include:a singleoccupancy room designed to minimize the possibility of infection through the use of controlled ventilation,air pressure and filtration; a positron emission tomography scanner,which provides ENT physicians with images showing the functional performance of the heart, brain and other organs; and stereotactic radiosurgery,which delivers a high dose of radiation to a targeted area in as few as one treatment session.
U.S.News also recognized Methodist’s ENT Department for the numerous services offered to make patients’ hospitalizations as comfortable and worry-free as possible.Services offered include hospice care,palliative care,a pain management program,rehabilitation care and translators.
For the past four years, Methodist’s ENT Department has ranked in the top 20 on U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best
Hospitals”list.
