Hollings Annual Report 2023 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 20
Alexandra Kejner, M.D., center, with the OR team and the da Vinci SP.
Hollings doctors first in state to use da Vinci robotic surgery system
Doctors with MUSC Hollings Cancer Center are the first
in South Carolina to perform head and neck cancer surgery
with the da Vinci SP, a single port robotic system.
The new system gives patients more options for care,
particularly patients with HPV-related cancers that are often
caught at early stages and can be treated with surgery.
“It really has revolutionized our ability to treat this area,”
said Alexandra Kejner, M.D. She was the first head and
neck surgeon in South Carolina to use the new robot during
a procedure in summer 2023.
“It’s like dial-up compared to broadband,” she said,
comparing the robot previously in use to the new one.
W. Greer Albergotti, M.D., who has also
now used the system, called it a “huge
advancement.”
“It gives us a much closer, magnified view
of the tumor and the surrounding normal
anatomy that we want to make sure to avoid. Overall, it’s
a leap forward for the quality of surgery that we’re able to
provide to patients in South Carolina,” he said.
Head and neck cancer clinic
expands to new space
The head and neck team was all smiles as the ribbon was
cut on a long-awaited expansion of the Wendy and Keith
Wellin Head and Neck Clinic. The clinic now occupies the
entire 10th floor of Rutledge Tower. The expansion added
7,000 square feet, allowing for new
exam rooms, infusion rooms, space for
research teams and the ability to conduct
telehealth visits, when appropriate, to
better serve people across the state. With
head and neck cancer cases increasing,
this expansion improves the team’s ability to offer
comprehensive, multidisciplinary care in one location.
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From left, Robert Labadie, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department
of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Jason Newman,
M.D., director of the Division of Head and Neck Oncology in the
Department of Otolaryngology, Wendy Wellin, and Raymond
DuBois, M.D., Ph.D., director of MUSC Hollings Cancer Center.
Hollings 2023 Annual Report
