Home > The Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease at Mercy > About Our Center & Expertise
The Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease at Mercy: About Our Center and Expertise
The Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease at Mercy provides patients a comprehensive and coordinated approach to the diagnosis and treatment of digestive diseases. The Institute’s clinical experts treat acute and chronic disorders with advanced therapies enabling patients to enjoy an enhanced quality of life. In addition to caring for their own patients, the Institute cares for referred patients and is committed to communicating and working with their physicians to ensure continuity of care.
Dedicated to health maintenance as well as disease treatment, the Institute provides cutting-edge diagnostic and screening services. The Institute focuses on the prevention of cancer, detection of pre-cancerous lesions of the digestive tract, especially for patients at high risk for cancer development, and treatment of cancers already diagnosed. The Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease offers expertise in:
Cancers of the Digestive Tract and Liver
The Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease is committed to the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of digestive tract and liver cancers using the latest technology and techniques unique to Mercy’s program. High risk populations, patients with Barrett’s esophagus, colonic polyps, and pancreatic IPMN, are particularly monitored and followed by the Institute’s physicians.
Led by nationally recognized therapeutic endoscopist, Sergey Kantsevoy, M.D., the Institute’s state-of-the-art endoscopy suites provide screening services to detect malignant and premalignant lesions of the colon, esophagus, stomach, liver and bile ducts, pancreas, and intestines. Many lesions are treated minimally invasively through the endoscope. Large and flat polyps often can be removed endoscopically utilizing special techniques including saline addicted polypectomy and ednoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD).
Endoscopic techniques offered include:
- Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) – to screen and diagnose cancers of the pancreas
- Chromoendoscopy – to detect lesions in the esophagus, stomach, and colon
- Minilaparoscopies – to investigate if cancer has spread
Patients diagnosed with cancerous and other lesions are staged with sophisticated EUS techniques. Insertion of fluoroscopic visible markings during an EUS guides and facilitates subsequent surgical treatment and radiation therapy decreasing injury to normal tissues.
The Institute’s physicians work collaboratively with general, colorectal, and minimally invasive surgeons as well as the surgical, medical, and radiation oncologists of The Institute for Cancer Care at Mercy to provide curative and palliative treatment. This team of physicians meets weekly to review and determine the best treatment plan for each patient.
Heartburn
Heartburn is a common and annoying symptom, most often caused by gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). If not properly diagnosed and treated, heartburn can cause serious illnesses including Barrett’s Esophagus and esophageal cancer. The Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease is dedicated to relieving heartburn and preventing diseases of the esophagus.
The Institute’s heartburn specialists, Scott Huber, M.D., and Patrick Hyatt, M.D., diagnose the cause of heartburn using specialized studies that monitor the function of the esophagus. Patients are monitored regularly since early detection for esophageal cancer is essential. The Institute offers both medical and surgical treatment options. If esophageal cancer is diagnosed, the physicians collaborate with the surgical, medical, and radiation oncologists of The Institute for Cancer Care at Mercy to provide comprehensive treatment plans.
Inflammatory Bowel and Colorectal Diseases
The Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease offers a comprehensive hospital-based Center for Inflammatory Bowel and Colorectal Diseases. Mary Harris, M.D., and Debra Vachon, M.D., are leaders in this regionally recognized program focused on enabling patients to experience full and normal lives while managing their Crohn’s Disease and ulcerative colitis. The physicians, along with their staff, are dedicated to educating patients and encouraging their involvement for their successful management of inflammatory bowel disease.
Drs. Harris and Vachon focus on women’s digestive health needs, including diarrheal management, sexual health, fertility, disease activity in pregnancy, and breastfeeding, as well as address questions regarding disease inheritance, outcomes, medications, and treatment.
Offering breakthrough medical management for Crohn’s Disease and ulcerative colitis, the Center has a dedicated Remicade Infusion Center. Providing state-of-the-art monitoring, treatment, and medical capabilities, the Remicade Infusion Center is located adjacent to the physician offices, provides convenient scheduling, is equipped with wireless computer access for patients, and provides patients water and snacks.
The Center offers capsule endoscopy, a technique in which patients swallow a small encapsulated camera allowing for evaluation of intestinal disorders.
Liver and Hepatobiliary Diseases
The Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease at Mercy has an outpatient hospital-based Center for Liver and Hepatobiliary Diseases, which specializes in the diagnoses and treatment of all liver and biliary tract diseases. Paul Thuluvath, M.D., renowned hepatologist and national leader in liver and hepatobiliary treatment and research, leads the Center's comprehensive program focused on providing patients with the state-of-the-art technology and pioneering treatments needed to manage these diseases.
At the Center, portal hypertension, a complication of severe liver disease, is treated with a variety of advanced techniques, including TIPS, gastric and variceal glue injection, and banding and sclerotherapy.
The Center focuses their comprehensive liver cancer treatment to include screening protocols by MRI and CT scans, surgical and medical management, liver transplantation, and ongoing care with TACE and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in coordination with interventional radiology and chemotherapy.
Patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis, a chronic, progress disease of the liver, are at risk for biliary cancer. Patients are screened for biliary cancer with sophisticated techniques performed through an endoscope, including “spyglass”, which allows physicians unparalleled views of the system. Biliary cancers are treated surgically or with stents that are placed through an endoscope. Appropriate patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis or bile duct cancers may be referred for liver transplants.
The Center's Liver Transplant Clinic offers pre-operative evaluation and screening for liver transplantation and pre-operative management to optimize health for successful transplant outcomes. The physicians and staff offer assistance in the selection of a liver transplant center that will provide the best outcomes as well as short waiting times. The Center's physicians then coordinate care with the liver transplant center for optimal post-operative care and management and post-transplant treatment of Hepatitis C.
In addition to the medical management of liver disease, the Center participates in several research trials pertaining to the treatment of liver disease. Patients may be eligible to participate in the following studies:
- Viral Hepatitis (Hepatitis B &C): This study looks to find optimal treatment of Hepatitis B and C through research trials for the most promising drug treatments. Patients are carefully monitored for the progression of liver disease and are screened for liver cancer.
- Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD): This study provides recommendations and treatment to reduce disease progression; reviews new modalities of treatment, including bar iatric surgery for select patients; and provides liver cancer screenings for patients with cirrhosis.
Pancreatic Disorders
The physicians at The Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease screen, diagnose, and treat diseases of the pancreas. Pancreatic cysts and cancer are evaluated using endoscopic ultrasound, while patients at high risk for cancer are evaluated for IPMN. Should cancer be detected, the physicians work collaboratively with the surgical, medical, and radiation oncologists at The Institute for Cancer Care at Mercy to provide the most comprehensive treatment available.
Acute and chronic pancreatitis is also diagnosed and evaluated. The Institute’s physicians work with The Center for Interventional Pain Medicine at Mercy to provide celiac plexus blocks. Nutritional counseling and support is available.
Stomach and Intestinal Disorders
The Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease treats disorders of the stomach and intestines, including peptic ulcer disease, H Pylori, gastroparesis, gastric and intestinal cancers, and unexplained bleeding of the intestinal tract.
Therapeutic Endoscopy
Therapeutic endoscopy is central to the services offered at The Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease since endoscopic screenings detect malignant and premalignant lesions of the colon, esophagus, stomach, liver and bile ducts, pancreas, and intestines. Nationally recognized therapeutic endoscopist, Sergey Kantsevoy, M.D., leads the endoscopy program.
The Institute’s endoscopists are experts at performing endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatogrophy (ERCP), endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) of complicated and large polyps, interventional endoscopic placement of stents and other treatments, endoscopic drainage of pancreatic pseudocysts, obstructive jaundice, primary sclerosing cholangitis, and complications of laparoscopic interventions on biliary ducts. They also place ambulatory 48-hour wireless pH monitors for assessment of patients with GERD symptoms. Cancerous lesions can be removed endoscopically, using procedures known as ablation and debulking, to bypass obstruction and alleviate symptoms.
Many of the procedures performed at the Institute are not available at major teaching institutions, including:
- Removal of complicated, large and/or flat polyps, allowing treatment through the colonoscope rather than surgical treatment
- Endoscopic Mucosal Resections (EMR) for Barrett’s esophagus and early gastric cancers
- Placement of palliative biliary stents in patients with advanced pancreatic or biliary cancer to reduce symptoms and improve quality of life
- Endoscopic drainage of pancreatic fluid collections related to chronic pancreatitis
- Endoscopic ultrasound for primary staging and lymph node aspiration in pulmonary, esophageal, gastric, pancreatic, and colon cancers
Women’s Digestive Health
The Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease is committed to the digestive health needs of women. Conditions that predominately affect women of all ages include inflammatory bowel disease, cholelithiasis (gallstones and biliary disease), irritable bowel syndrome, and some forms of liver disease (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and hepatic adenoma). The Institute’s leaders in women’s digestive health, Mary Harris, M.D., Debra Vachon, M.D., and Lisa Pichney, M.D., work collaboratively with Neil Rosenshein, M.D., Medical Director of The Weinberg Center for Women’s Health & Medicine at Mercy, and Robert Atlas, M.D., Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, to direct the treatment of digestive diseases in conjunction with a woman’s overall health.
The inflammatory bowel diseases of Crohn’s Disease and ulcerative colitis occur predominately in women when they are in their 20s and 30s, the primary childbirth years, making childbearing issues paramount in treating IBD. Dr. Harris, one of the nation’s leading experts in fertility, pregnancy, and post partum concerns for women with IBD, guides patients who are pregnant or wish to become pregnant. Fecal incontinence, which is more common in some women as the result of childbirth, is also addressed by the team of physicians committed to women’s health of all ages.
Now Accepting New Patients.
Most Insurances Accepted.
Please call for an appointment.
Phone: 410-332-9356
Tollfree: 1-800-MD-Mercy (1-800-636-3729)
|
