Stanford Team Needs Help Exporting Surgical Hope At 11,000 Feet.

News Editors/Health Writers

STANFORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 28, 2002

Gary Heit, MD, assistant professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University School of Medicine, first learned of the dire need for neurosurgeons in Peru from his sister who lives there. So when the Peruvian Ministry of Health asked him to help, he jumped at the chance. On May 18, Heit will lead 13 other doctors, nurses and surgical technologists from Stanford on a journey to Cuzco, Peru, volunteering 10 days of their time to those in need.

"Kids are dying from hydrocephalus because they don't have shunts," Heit said, referring to a disease that occurs when the flow of cerebral spinal fluid from the brain is blocked. Untreated, hydrocephalus can lead to mental disturbance and even death. Neurosurgeons treat the disease by inserting a shunt, allowing fluid to drain from the head to other parts of the body where it is absorbed. Heit hopes his team can treat as many as 60 children who would otherwise die of hydrocephalus, and to train local doctors to treat others.

Community support has been vital to this mission, but more donations are needed. Hope International, a relief organization that ships medicine, hospital supplies and food around the globe, has agreed to provide some of the surgical equipment. In addition, the Peruvian Ministry of Health has committed support; a Bay Area businessman has volunteered his services toward fundraising; and local Peruvians have agreed to help with translation services. Those interested in making donations can contact Heit at [e-mail]. Among the items the team still needs are:

* Shunt hardware

* Ventriculostomy cameras and scopes

* External ventricular drains

* Antibiotics

* Steroids

* Cash donations

Once the initial work of raising money and stocking up on supplies is completed, Heit and his team will face more obstacles in Peru. "We won't have many things we normally take for granted," he predicted. "The operating room may be substandard, and we'll likely have to reuse supplies."

Stanford University Medical Center integrates research, medical education and patient care at its three institutions -- Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. For more information, please visit the Web site of the medical center's Office of Communication & Public Affairs at http://mednews.stanford.edu.