jfulcer
DIS Old Timer
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2000
CLEVELAND (AP) - Doctors have implanted electrodes in Christopher Reeve's diaphragm in an experiment designed to enable the paralyzed actor to breathe on his own, hospital officials said today.
Reeve and Drs. Raymond Onders and Anthony DiMarco planned to talk about the Feb. 28 procedure later today at University Hospitals, hospital spokesman Eric Sandstrom said.
The results of the operation are promising, Onders told The New York Times.
The newspaper said Onders performed the surgery at University Hospitals of Cleveland. Nursing supervisor Nancy Funk would not confirm early Thursday that Reeve had received treatment at the hospital.
Reeve, 50, has been on a respirator since he broke his neck in a horseback riding accident eight years ago. He is expected to discuss the surgery at a news conference Thursday in Cleveland.
The outpatient operation, called diaphragm pacing via laparoscopy, involves threading tiny wires through small incisions in the diaphragm. The wires connect a control box worn outside the body to electrodes on the diaphragm.
The control box sends a signal to the electrodes 12 times a minute, causing the diaphragm to contract and air to be sucked into the lungs. When the nerve is unstimulated, the diaphragm relaxes and the air is expelled.
Reeve, the third person to undergo the procedure, can currently breathe for more than two hours without the respirator, compared to 10 minutes before the surgery. As his diaphragm muscles get stronger, Reeve is expected to be able to do away with the respirator entirely.
Over time, Reeve will also be able to speak more normally and to breathe naturally, Onders told the Times.
The Food and Drug Administration has so far approved diaphragm pacing via laparoscopy for 35 patients.
Reeve and Drs. Raymond Onders and Anthony DiMarco planned to talk about the Feb. 28 procedure later today at University Hospitals, hospital spokesman Eric Sandstrom said.
The results of the operation are promising, Onders told The New York Times.
The newspaper said Onders performed the surgery at University Hospitals of Cleveland. Nursing supervisor Nancy Funk would not confirm early Thursday that Reeve had received treatment at the hospital.
Reeve, 50, has been on a respirator since he broke his neck in a horseback riding accident eight years ago. He is expected to discuss the surgery at a news conference Thursday in Cleveland.
The outpatient operation, called diaphragm pacing via laparoscopy, involves threading tiny wires through small incisions in the diaphragm. The wires connect a control box worn outside the body to electrodes on the diaphragm.
The control box sends a signal to the electrodes 12 times a minute, causing the diaphragm to contract and air to be sucked into the lungs. When the nerve is unstimulated, the diaphragm relaxes and the air is expelled.
Reeve, the third person to undergo the procedure, can currently breathe for more than two hours without the respirator, compared to 10 minutes before the surgery. As his diaphragm muscles get stronger, Reeve is expected to be able to do away with the respirator entirely.
Over time, Reeve will also be able to speak more normally and to breathe naturally, Onders told the Times.
The Food and Drug Administration has so far approved diaphragm pacing via laparoscopy for 35 patients.
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