Penn Medicine surgeons Neil R. Malhotra, MD, and Bert W. O’Malley, Jr, MD, collaborated to perform one of the world’s rarest surgeries: An en-bloc resection of a cervical chordoma.
In this comprehensive recap video, the pair walks through a visual case study recounting the two-day surgery in detail -- as the tumor was first isolated, removed with its containing vertebra, and the spine reconstructed.
"En bloc resection for cervical chordoma is among the very few procedures in surgical practice with no margin for error," says Neil Malhotra, MD, of Penn Neurosurgery. "But there was no question in my mind, or Dr. O'Malley's, that we could perform this surgery—because working within the confines of perfection is what training, deliberative planning and innovation is about."
In addition to their insightful commentary on the three-part surgical procedure, Drs. Malhotra and O’Malley present annotated intraoperative video and illustrations, and their unique perspective on the intricacies of spinal surgery and patient care.
At Penn, Dr. Malhotra is Director, Department of Neurosurgery, and Dr. O’Malley is Chair, Department of Otorhinolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery. Dr. O’Malley is the co-creator of Trans Oral Robotic Surgery (TORS) which was approved for surgical use by the FDA in December 2009.
Related Links:
Penn Neurosurgeons and Otolaryngologists Perform First-in-World Robot-Assisted
En Bloc Spondylectomy and TransOral Robotic Surgery for Cervical Chordoma
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