Amanda (Host): Welcome to the Sinai Chicago Health and Hope
podcast, where caregivers from Sinai Chicago share insights, updates,
and important advice on the health topics impacting our communities.
From the latest in medical research to practical tips for improving wellness,
our doctors, nurses, and health professionals are here to help you and
your families take control of your health.
In this episode, we're focusing on how cutting-edge practices in
radiology and vascular interventional radiology are shaping patient care.
From addressing fibroids to lung screenings to 3D printing
for trauma related imaging.
I'm your host, Amanda Wilde, and joining me is Diagnostic and
Interventional Radiologist, Dr.
Amer Shaw.
Dr.
Shaw is the chairman of the Department of Radiology and Vascular
Interventional Radiology at Mount Sinai Hospital and Holy Cross Hospital.
Welcome Dr.
S Shah, and thank you so much for being here and sharing your expertise.
Amar Shah, MD: Yeah, thanks for having me.
Amanda (Host): Going to something I mentioned in the introduction.
Which isn't new.
Fibroids and women's health now, fibroids are quite common, and while
some women don't know they have them, other's really suffer pain,
heavy bleeding, and disruption to daily life because of fibroids.
How does interventional radiology offer treatment options for
fibroids, and when should a woman consider seeing an interventional
radiologist for a consultation?
Amar Shah, MD: Absolutely.
That's a great question.
So Interventional Radiology, provides a minimally invasive option done through
a needle smaller than the size of a pen.
it allows relief of symptoms associated with fibroids, kind of
the ones that you talked about.
While it still allows a woman to avoid a big surgery and lets her keep her uterus.
So Those are some positives.
as for when I think you can seek consultation at any time, and
you could even go directly to your interventional radiologists.
shameless plug for Sinai, if you call 7 7 3 8 8 4 4 8 6 7.
Or 7 7 3 2 5 7 6 5 0 1.
We can help you make an appointment directly with us either at Holy Cross if
you're comfortable there for the first number, or Sinai with that second number.
Amanda (Host): And that's an excellent resource.
interventional radiology, though isn't often well understood by patient's.
So in the fibroids case, for example, how do you help women
feel informed and empowered while they're exploring minimally
invasive options instead of surgery?
Amar Shah, MD: Yeah, I think the main thing is to speak in a language
they can understand, not make it so technical, so they understand exactly
what we do, to support them, And also the alternatives because it's
important to have a good 360 degree view of what you can have potentially
done to help with your fibroids.
Our practice wants patient's to be educated, have someone to understand
their pain, and know that they have an advocate that's willing to advocate
for them throughout the entire process.
Amanda (Host): Now on another note, we often hear in the community
it's hard to get imaging done or receive results quickly.
What does the imaging turnaround time look like at Sinai, and how does your
team ensure patient's get answers?
Quickly,
Amar Shah, MD: Yeah, This is a big, topic in the medical world
with medical imaging as it's kind of become proliferated and everyone
gets imaging for almost everything.
So we kind of understand that even if after you've had your study taken, if
the result's not available in a timely manner, the patient may be even more
frustrated and anxious because now they've had the imaging done and they're
waiting weeks to get imaging done.
with that radiology physician shortage, I've heard of some
places where results are backed up weeks, sometimes one or two weeks.
We don't want our patient's to deal with that anxiety, so we ensure that
we always have enough doctors And that all the cases are read within 72 hours.
If there are no extenuating circumstances.
Amanda (Host): As you just mentioned, across the country, there's a shortage
of radiologists and imaging resources.
What is Sinai doing differently that allows your department to
excel despite those challenges?
Amar Shah, MD: Yeah, I mean for us it's just about keeping it simple.
Longevity is a key.
I've been here for over 13 years.
A lot of my colleagues also.
so we try to find local people.
I was born and raised in Chicago land, and a lot of my
colleagues trained around here.
As you know, Chicago has a lot of training institutions, so we have
a lot of people to choose from.
we use our local network And we find people that really believe
in the mission of medicine in a large safety net community, which
is what Sinai, typically serves.
I think the familiarity with each other And the oath of the mission makes it.
So that we take our job more seriously than just someone reading studies like
Pacman and more like someone that's a key point guard in a patient's care.
Amanda (Host): Mm-hmm.
Good analogy.
I just jump to, Lung cancer screening, AI and 3D printing.
So first of all, lung cancer screening can be lifesaving.
We know that, especially for people with a smoking history.
Can you talk about Sinai's lung cancer screening program and how new AI tools
are helping detect cancer earlier?
Amar Shah, MD: Yeah, I'm glad you asked about this.
So, as you know, our community suffers from an inordinate amount of lung
cancer for many reasons, including environmental factors and smoking.
That's why over the course of three years, I created a partnership
with an international healthcare, artificial intelligence leader.
The goal of using AI to help radiologists find lung cancer on cts, which is pretty
normal, but even now using x-rays to potentially catch them, we're helping
fine tune the technology at Sinai so that one day, maybe even a simple chest
x-ray will be able to be a screening tool of choice to find early lung cancers.
We're also looking to participate in a large multicenter center trial to
show the results of this technology.
So I'm really excited about it And the potential
Amanda (Host): Because as we know, the earlier we can detect cancer,
the more likely it is that we can.
Put it into remission or even cure it.
also just wanna touch on.
Innovation and 3D printing in care.
One of the most exciting innovations at Sinai is the use of 3D printing
for trauma related imaging.
Can you explain how creating a 3D model from imaging benefits
physicians and patient's.
Amar Shah, MD: Yeah.
so one of our partner hospitals brought me the unique opportunity for the
radiology department to be able to be a.
Sort of point guard in coordinating and making sure that cts that we're
already taking of patient's can be turned into 3D models that can be printed
on site for complex facial fractures.
So what this does is it allows the surgeons to pre-plan surgeries, before
they even get into the surgery, suite, and it results in surgeries that can
happen in three to 10 hours instead of sometimes having to wait seven to 10 days.
So what's the result of all this?
It leads to faster surgeries, smaller incisions, and
better patient satisfaction.
So with this 3D printing, we've been able to show that it, works pretty
well with a small sample, and now we're working on creating a, institutional
review board, study to show this.
Amanda (Host): That is quite amazing.
Dr.
Shaw, thank you so much for an excellent education on how radiology
and vascular interventional radiology are improving patient care,
Amar Shah, MD: Yeah.
Thanks so much for letting me come and talk about radiology
and shed some light on our field.
I appreciate it.
Amanda (Host): we appreciate you.
Dr.
Amer Shah is the chairman of the Department of Radiology and Vascular
Interventional Radiology at Mount Sinai Hospital and Holy Cross Hospital.
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