HIFU in Sarasota: Early results
On Dec. 4, 2015, 61-year-old Graceville, Fla., resident Daniel Hazell was the first patient of Vituro Health’s Medical Director Stephen Scionti, M.D., to have his prostate cancer treated with HIFU in the U.S. at The Vituro Health Sarasota HIFU center since the October 2015 FDA clearance of the technology.This procedure marked the beginning of Vituro Health’s HIFU program. Fast forward to the end of August 2016 and Dr. Scionti has treated 115 patients with HIFU in Sarasota, Fla. Looking back over the past 9 months of procedures, he is excited by the results.
“We treated our first 120 patients - all outpatient - under general anesthesia, without the need for a suprapubic catheter, which has never been shown before with this technology,” Scionti says. “Additionally, in these initial nine months, not a single patient required re-operation for a blockage or stricture (scars that develop in the urethra) – that has never been shown in the literature before, either.”
Dr. Scionti reports that Vituro Health has a zero percent stricture rate to date, while the rate published in previous studies is 12-15 percent.
“Our success is because of technological innovations and refinements in the treatment that would never have been possible had we not spent ten years in learning this procedure and getting better at what we did,” Scionti says.
What this means for patients, Scionti adds, is far safer treatments, with fewer complications.
“Our early outcomes results from Sarasota show good PSA response three months following HIFU and low occurrence of side effects,” Scionti explained, “Our three month post procedure continence is 99 percent. The combination of technology we use – MRI fusion-guided biopsy and MRI fusion-guided HIFU – allows for a personalized approach based on each patient’s tumor burden and location, while minimizing side effects.”
On August 30, 2016, Dr. Scionti presented these results at Focused Ultrasound Symposium in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Scionti was pleased to share the first U.S. HIFU experience, and he looks forward to continuing to share his knowledge with other physicians.
“New HIFU physicians come through our advanced peer-to-peer training program and benefit by exposure to my ten years of HIFU experience,” Scionti said. “This program, along with proctored procedures, results in more patients getting the excellent results we are already seeing.”
To learn more about Dr. Scionti’s HIFU experiences and results, please visit www.sciontiprostatecenter.com or call 866-866-8967.