Alfred Cuschieri

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Sir

Alfred Cuschieri

Born (1938-09-30) 30 September 1938 (age 85)
Alma mater Royal University of Malta
Known for Pioneering minimal access surgery
Surgical Endoscopy
Scientific career
Fields Surgery
Institutions University of Malta
University of Dundee
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
University of Liverpool

Sir Alfred Cuschieri FRSE FMedSci (born 30 September 1938) is a Maltese-British surgeon and academic. [1] He is most notable for his pioneering contribution to the development and clinical implementation of minimal access surgery, also known as key-hole surgery. [2] He has been Professor of Surgery at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa, Italy, since 2003 as well as Chief Scientific Advisor to the Institute of Medical Science and Technology at the University of Dundee since 2008. [3]

Contents

Sir Alfred Cuschieri, was born in Malta, his parents were Italian and Maltese (his father was from Florence). [4]

Career

Cuschieri obtained his medical degree from the Royal University of Malta in 1961. Soon after graduation he left Malta for the United Kingdom to undertake further research into his areas of surgical and technological interest at the University of Liverpool. At Liverpool, he rose to become a lecturer in the medical school and then, in 1974, to a Personal Chair in Surgery. [5]

In 1976, Cuschieri moved to Scotland to join the University of Dundee School of Medicine as Professor of Surgery and Chairman of the Surgery and Molecular Oncology Department. It was while working at Ninewells Hospital in the city that he and his team first began researching the medical and technological basis for minimal access surgery. [6] Cuschieri's team took advantage of, among other internal and external ergonomic developments, smaller cameras allowing insertion into the incision made in the skin; as a result of this progress the first minimally invasive surgery in the UK was carried out at Ninewells in 1987. [6]

A lack of appropriate training in this form of surgery, and instances of procedures going wrong even resulting in deaths, led to some concern and mistrust in the new techniques. As a result, training units were set up at hospitals and medical schools around the UK with one of the first designated in 1993 under Cuschieri's directorship. [7] [8] Cuschieri holds some fifty-eight patents for various surgical instruments and has been originally published around five hundred times in peer-reviewed journals. He became European Editor-in-Chief of Surgical Endoscopy in 1992. [5] [9]

Honours and awards

Publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General surgery</span> Medical specialty

General surgery is a surgical specialty that focuses on alimentary canal and abdominal contents including the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, appendix and bile ducts, and often the thyroid gland. They also deal with diseases involving the skin, breast, soft tissue, trauma, peripheral artery disease and hernias and perform endoscopic as such as gastroscopy, colonoscopy and laparoscopic procedures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laparoscopy</span> Minimally invasive operations within the abdominal or pelvic cavities

Laparoscopy is an operation performed in the abdomen or pelvis using small incisions with the aid of a camera. The laparoscope aids diagnosis or therapeutic interventions with a few small cuts in the abdomen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gallbladder</span> Organ in humans and other vertebrates

In vertebrates, the gallbladder, also known as the cholecyst, is a small hollow organ where bile is stored and concentrated before it is released into the small intestine. In humans, the pear-shaped gallbladder lies beneath the liver, although the structure and position of the gallbladder can vary significantly among animal species. It receives bile, produced by the liver, via the common hepatic duct, and stores it. The bile is then released via the common bile duct into the duodenum, where the bile helps in the digestion of fats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bile duct</span> Type of organ

A bile duct is any of a number of long tube-like structures that carry bile, and is present in most vertebrates. The bile duct is separated into three main parts: the fundus (superior), the body (middle), and the neck (inferior).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cholecystitis</span> Inflammation of the gallbladder

Cholecystitis is inflammation of the gallbladder. Symptoms include right upper abdominal pain, pain in the right shoulder, nausea, vomiting, and occasionally fever. Often gallbladder attacks precede acute cholecystitis. The pain lasts longer in cholecystitis than in a typical gallbladder attack. Without appropriate treatment, recurrent episodes of cholecystitis are common. Complications of acute cholecystitis include gallstone pancreatitis, common bile duct stones, or inflammation of the common bile duct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cholecystectomy</span> Surgical removal of the gallbladder

Cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of the gallbladder. Cholecystectomy is a common treatment of symptomatic gallstones and other gallbladder conditions. In 2011, cholecystectomy was the eighth most common operating room procedure performed in hospitals in the United States. Cholecystectomy can be performed either laparoscopically, or via an open surgical technique.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common bile duct stone</span> Medical condition

Common bile duct stone, also known as choledocholithiasis, is the presence of gallstones in the common bile duct (CBD). This condition can cause jaundice and liver cell damage. Treatments include choledocholithotomy and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).

An accessory bile duct is a conduit that transports bile and is considered to be supernumerary or auxiliary to the biliary tree.

The Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies is a special-statute, highly selective public research university located in Pisa, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biliary colic</span> Medical condition in which gallstones cause acute pain

Biliary colic, also known as symptomatic cholelithiasis, a gallbladder attack or gallstone attack, is when a colic occurs due to a gallstone temporarily blocking the cystic duct. Typically, the pain is in the right upper part of the abdomen, and can be severe. Pain usually lasts from 15 minutes to a few hours. Often, it occurs after eating a heavy meal, or during the night. Repeated attacks are common. Cholecystokinin - a gastrointestinal hormone - plays a role in the colic, as following the consumption of fatty meals, the hormone triggers the gallbladder to contract, which may expel stones into the duct and temporarily block it until being successfully passed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biliary tract</span> Organ system

The biliary tract refers to the liver, gallbladder and bile ducts, and how they work together to make, store and secrete bile. Bile consists of water, electrolytes, bile acids, cholesterol, phospholipids and conjugated bilirubin. Some components are synthesized by hepatocytes ; the rest are extracted from the blood by the liver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choledochal cysts</span> Medical condition

Choledochal cysts are congenital conditions involving cystic dilatation of bile ducts. They are uncommon in western countries but not as rare in East Asian nations like Japan and China.

Biliary injury is the traumatic damage of the bile ducts. It is most commonly an iatrogenic complication of cholecystectomy, but can also be caused by other operations or by major trauma. The risk of biliary injury is higher during laparoscopic cholecystectomy than during open cholecystectomy. Biliary injury may lead to several complications and may even cause death if not diagnosed in time and managed properly. Ideally biliary injury should be managed at a center with facilities and expertise in endoscopy, radiology and surgery.

The cystic node is the sentinel lymph node of the gall bladder. It is located within the cystohepatic triangle.

The Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) is a 501c6 non-profit professional organization providing education on gastrointestinal minimally invasive surgery. It describes itself thus: The mission of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons is to innovate, educate and collaborate to improve patient care.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dundee Royal Infirmary</span> Hospital in Scotland

Dundee Royal Infirmary, often shortened to DRI, was a major teaching hospital in Dundee, Scotland. Until the opening of Ninewells Hospital in 1974, Dundee Royal Infirmary was Dundee's main hospital. It was closed in 1998, after 200 years of operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biloma</span> Circumscribed abdominal collection of bile outside the biliary tree

A biloma is a circumscribed abdominal collection of bile outside the biliary tree. It occurs when there is excess bile in the abdominal cavity. It can occur during or after a bile leak. There is an increased chance of a person developing biloma after having a gallbladder removal surgery, known as laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This procedure can be complicated by biloma with incidence of 0.3–2%. Other causes are liver biopsy, abdominal trauma, and, rarely, spontaneous perforation. The formation of biloma does not occur frequently. Biliary fistulas are also caused by injury to the bile duct and can result in the formation of bile leaks. Biliary fistulas are abnormal communications between organs and the biliary tract. Once diagnosed, they usually require drainage. The term "biloma" was first coined in 1979 by Gould and Patel. They discovered it in a case with extrahepatic bile leakage. The cause of this was trauma to the upper right quadrant of the abdomen. Originally, biloma was described as an "encapsulated collection" of extrahepatic bile. Biloma is now described as extrabiliary collections of bile that can be either intrahepatic or extrahepatic. The most common cause of biloma is trauma to the liver. There are other causes such as abdominal surgery, endoscopic surgery and percutaneous catheter drainage. Injury and abdominal trauma can cause damage to the biliary tree. The biliary tree is a system of vessels that direct secreations from the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas through a series of ducts into the duodenum. This can result in a bile leak which is a common cause of the formation of biloma. It is possible for biloma to be associated with mortality, though it is not common. Bile leaks occur in about one percent of causes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Douglas (surgeon)</span> Scottish surgeon (1911–1993)

Sir Donald Macleod Douglas, was a Scottish academic surgeon. His schooling and medical undergraduate education were at St Andrews following which he embarked at an early stage on an academic career, winning a scholarship to pursue research at the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choledochoduodenostomy</span>

Choledochoduodenostomy (CDD) is a surgical procedure to create an anastomosis, a surgical connection, between the common bile duct (CBD) and an alternative portion of the duodenum. In healthy individuals, the CBD meets the pancreatic duct at the ampulla of Vater, which drains via the major duodenal papilla to the second part of duodenum. In cases of benign conditions such as narrowing of the distal CBD or recurrent CBD stones, performing a CDD provides the diseased patient with CBD drainage and decompression. A side-to-side anastomosis is usually performed.

George Berci is a Hungarian surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, United States and a pioneer in minimally invasive surgeries. He developed instruments for laparoscopic surgery that have been incorporated into minimally invasive surgery techniques used today. Berci turned 100 in March 2021.

References

  1. "Professor Sir Alfred Cuschieri". IBC Congress. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  2. "Alfred Cuschieri" (PDF). Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  3. "IMSaT - Professor Cuschieri" . Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  4. "SIR ALFRED CUSCHIERI, WORLD FAMOUS SCIENTIST, PROFESSOR OF SURGERY AT SANT'ANNA SCHOOL, RECEIVED HONORARY DEGREE OF "BIONICS ENGINEERING" FROM UNIVERSITY OF PISA". Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  5. 1 2 "Cuschieri - Academia" . Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Doctor who shrunk the surgeon" . Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  7. "Cuschieri Skills Centre". Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  8. "University of Dundee Graduation notes" . Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  9. "Advisers to Medical Micro Instruments" . Retrieved 23 May 2017.