Page 31 - Southern Exposure - December '24

Southern Exposure, Page 31

tAmpA gEnErAl nEws

TGH Pulmonologist Uses New Technology

To Diagnose And Treat Early-Stage Lung Cancer

According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer flexible robotic endoscope TGH PCSI recently joined Tampa General as part of
is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. among to navigate through the the hospital’s initiative to serve more patients on Florida’s
both men and women. Often asymptomatic, it can go periphery of the lungs with East Coast. Tampa General has been creating a framework
undiagnosed for an extended period. When symptoms improved vision, reach and of state-of-the-art services for patients in the Palm
do appear, it’s usually because the cancer has spread, control. The technology Beach and Treasure Coast areas, with the expertise and
and there’s less chance for survival, which makes early allows physicians to reach innovation of an academic health system. TGH PCSI has
screenings critical to diagnosing and treating the disease. locations in the lung that offices conveniently located in Atlantis and Wellington.
Who should be screened for lung cancer? The U.S. are inaccessible by a For more information about TGH PCSI, please call
Preventive Services Task Force recommends yearly lung traditional bronchoscopy, (561) 739-4TGH (4844) or visit TGHPCSI.com.
cancer screening for people who: making it possible to detect
• Have a 20 pack-year or more smoking history and diagnose lung cancer
• Smoke now or have quit within the past 15 years earlier for better treatment
• Are between 50 and 80 years old options and outcomes. Adam Wellikoff
Dr. Adam Wellikoff, a Palm Beach County-based “If an abnormality
pulmonologist with Tampa General Hospital (TGH) appears on a patient’s lung CT scan, the robotic
Pulmonary Care and Sleep Institute (PCSI), offers a new, bronchoscopy is used to pinpoint the nodule’s location
minimally invasive technology that enables earlier and and take a biopsy of the tissue,” said Wellikoff. “The
more accurate diagnosis of lung cancer. The technology technology works in concert with the CT scan, offering
is a robotic bronchoscopy that integrates the latest us a more precise road map to reach problem areas in a
advancements in robotics, software, data science and patient’s lung that are hard to access. It’s a real game
endoscopy (the use of small cameras and tools to enter changer because it means we can detect and treat the
the body through its natural openings). Dr. Wellikoff was disease earlier.”
among the first pulmonologists in the United States to Wellikoff is board certified by the American Board
utilize the technology, which was recently cleared by the of Internal Medicine in the subspecialties of pulmonary
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). diseases and critical care medicine. Additionally,
A physician operates the robotic bronchoscopy via a Wellikoff was the first board-certified interventional
video game-like controller. The bronchoscopy utilizes a pulmonologist in Florida.

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