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Aloha everyone!
We are urgently looking for partners to help cover a shortfall of $25,128. We would like to submit the grant by the end of March and therefore we are on a tight deadline. Thank you for your consideration and please reach out with any clarifying questions. This project aims to help advance/leapfrog advanced microsurgical techniques in a developing country (Moldova).
1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime. Some of the reconstruction options following a mastectomy include implant based or using their own tissues. Head and neck cancers are less common, but more aggressive and require more complex reconstructions. The Institute of Oncology in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova serves as a tertiary referral center for the country of 2.3 million. It is there where the most difficult cases end up.
Microvascular reconstruction utilizes the most advanced techniques on plastic and reconstructive surgery, by removing tissue from one part of the body and reconnecting the artery and vein elsewhere on the body where there is a surgical defect following cancer resection. In breast reconstruction, using one's tissues to recreate the breast from the abdomen (called DIEP free flap) is the gold standard following radiation or when implant based reconstruction fails. In head and neck reconstruction, the resection of the cancer crosses multiple planes that local tissues are not enough and microvascular reconstruction with tissue from elsewhere in the body is necessary in order to fill in the defect and recreate functionality.
These methods are standard of care. Due to economical pressures and brain drain, the Institute of Oncology lost those capabilities many years ago and the hospital is now on the second generation of surgeons not being able to perform them. This grant aims to address that need by 1. providing microsurgical equipment and 2. working closely with surgeons who are interested in using these advanced methods. The surgeons are part of a tertiary center that in effect will provide knowledge transfer that will benefit the entire country.
The surgical teams will be comprised of surgeons from Europe and the US. They will visit Moldova every 3-4 months for a week at a time during which 3-4 cases will be performed (they are all about 8-12 hours long and therefore can only do so many in a week). Before each trip, the visiting surgeons will work with the local surgeons on the case selection/criteria and discuss the cases beforehand. That will give the local surgeons plenty of preoperative exposure of the criteria for the surgeries. The visiting surgeons will likely be different with each trip therefore only the first three trips are outlined in the Participants section, but they will be volunteers that have plenty experience so the transfer of the knowledge is made easier. There will also be opportunities for the local surgeons and/or staff to travel elsewhere (Europe and/or US) to see how other institutions provide care for these patients. We are hoping for a timeline of 2-3 years until the local surgeons will feel comfortable and be able to operate independently.
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