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On her way into the operating room, Laura Albanese wasn’t frightened about undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumor. Instead, she was confident, feeling as though she were surrounded by friends.
“It was like we were Charlie’s Angels, a force to be reckoned with,” she said, recounting the moments before surgery when her care team wheeled her into the operating suite. “It was unbelievable.”
Albanese’s operation was performed in BWH’s new Advanced Multimodality Image Guided Operating (AMIGO) Suite, a one-of-a-kind set-up that gives interventional radiologists and surgeons immediate access to a full array of advanced imaging modalities for use during procedures. The integrated, 5,700-square-foot area is divided into three sterile procedure rooms—joined internally by sliding doors—that house real-time imaging modalities like X-ray fluoroscopy and ultrasound, as well as cross sectional digital imaging systems like CT, high field strength MRI and high resolution PET.
Albanese was diagnosed with a brain tumor three years ago. After undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, she was declared in remission. But, during a follow-up visit last year, doctors discovered the tumor had returned.
“I decided to consider more surgery this time around,” Albanese said. “I wanted the tumor out.”
Albanese’s neurosurgeon had recently moved out of state and referred her to BWH. She made an appointment to meet with Alexandra Golby, MD, one of AMIGO’s three associate medical directors, in August, and scheduled her surgery for early September.
“Laura’s tumor had a small area of reoccurrence in the midst of her language areas,” said Golby. “We used pre-op functional imaging to define the precise relationship of the tumor to the language areas. Those images, together with ultrasound and MRI images obtained during the operation, guided us in safely removing more of the tumor.”
Golby said that a number of research projects will be conducted in the AMIGO Suite, one of which uses imaging and mapping to optimize guided surgery. These studies will use the information collected during complex procedures, like Albanese’s, to continue refining the use of techniques for safe removal of tumors from critical brain areas.
While the operating room is outfitted with the latest technologies and high-tech equipment, the multidisciplinary team that orchestrates the suite brings a reassuring presence and soft human touch to the room, Albanese said.
“Dr. Golby was in the pre-op room, and so was her assistant, Dr. (Daniel) Orringer, and the anesthesiologist, Dr. (Grace) Kim. Everybody was so supportive and kept me informed of everything that was going on and what was going to happen,” said Albanese, who was kept awake so surgeons could monitor her speech as they operated on that portion of her brain. “I really felt like I was part of the team, like they were my friends. True amigos.”