Local Surgeon Is First in training for Prestige Cervical Disc Replacement

 Local Surgeon Is First In Southeast Florida To Be Trained Following Fda Approval of Prestige® Cervical Disc Replacement

(West Palm Beach, FL – July 31, 2007)  Heldo Gomez, M.D., a Board Certified Neurosurgeon, is using a new surgical technique that offers some patients a chance to maintain motion in their necks following surgery for cervical disc disease.  Dr. Gomez is the first surgeon in Southeast Florida to be trained following approval by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration to perform this surgery.  The first surgery of this type in Palm Beach County will be performed at Columbia Hospital on Tuesday, August 7, 2007.

The new artificial disc, called the PRESTIGE® Cervical Disc, is inserted into the neck using a similar procedure to the technique surgeons use when performing a spinal fusion. The PRESTIGE Cervical Disc, used in a procedure called cervical disc arthroplasty, showed superior neurological and overall success outcomes in a recently concluded clinical trial that compared the clinical outcomes of cervical artificial disc replacement (PRESTIGE Cervical Disc) to anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (spinal fusion) procedures. It is the first artificial disc approved for the cervical spine by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“What excites me the most about the Prestige Cervical Disc is that my patients who want to maintain motion in their necks have this new option,” said Dr. Gomez.   “This disc may revolutionize treatment options for surgical patients who normally would have only the option of a motion-restricting process of spinal fusion.”

In the U.S. clinical trial of the PRESTIGE Cervical disc, patients who received the disc showed improved neurological success at 24 months and improved overall success. The clinical trial is the largest, completed, prospective randomized controlled study of its kind in the cervical spine enrolling a total of 541 patients.   

Dr. Gomez is available for interviews on Wednesday, August 1, or between surgeries at Columbia Hospital on Tuesday, August 7.  To arrange an interview call Jean Wicken, Marketing Director at Columbia Hospital, at 561.881.5903 or Eric Weinberger at 561.627.7855.  Additional information about this new procedures is available at www.necksurgery.com and at www.prestigedisc.com.

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