ENT U.S. News Newsletter

RUSH Otorhinolaryngology: Celebrating Our Collective Achievements

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The RUSH Center for Skull Base and Pituitary Surgery, a leading program in the treatment of skull base disorders, brings together experts from more than 10 specialties to provide personalized, comprehensive care for patients with complicated skull base pathology such as pituitary adenoma, acoustic neuroma, meningioma and cerebrospinal fluid leak/encephalocele.

The RUSH Center for Skull Base and Pituitary Surgery with Pete Batra, MD

The RUSH Acoustic Neuroma Program offers personalized specialty care for patients with acoustic neuroma, a benign and often slow-growing tumor of the nerve that connects the ear and the brain. The program brings together specialists in neurotology, neurosurgery, radiation oncology, neuro-oncology, neuroradiology, audiology and physical therapy, who have extensive expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of this rare condition.

The RUSH Acoustic Neuroma Program with Mark Wiet, MD

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Honors and Awards

Pete Batra, MD, chair of the RUSH Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, has been named president-elect of the American Rhinologic Society. He will serve a one-year term beginning in September 2023. As president, Dr. Batra will continue to advance the ARS’ mission to promote excellence in the care of patients with disorders of the nose, sinuses and skull base through research, education and advocacy. “The ARS and its mission have been near and dear to me for two decades,” he says. “I see it as an incredible privilege to serve as president and to continue this good work.” Dr. Batra has been a member of the ARS for over 20 years and has served in several leadership positions, including chair of patient advocacy, member of the ARS Board of Directors and secretary.

Pete Batra, MD, Named President-elect of American Rhinologic Society

Kerstin Stenson, MD, Awarded RUSH University Excellence in Clinical Service Award

Kerstin Stenson, MD, a professor and associate vice chair in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and director of the Head and Neck Cancer Program at RUSH University Medical Center, was presented with the 2023 RUSH University Excellence in Clinical Service Award. This award recognizes faculty members who demonstrate continuous excellence in clinical care, services, leadership and scholarship. “She has been instrumental in the development of our premier Head and Neck Cancer Program over the past eight years,” department Chair Pete Batra, MD, one of Dr. Stenson’s nominators, wrote. “The program is now the market leader in the Chicago region.” Among her many accomplishments, Dr. Stenson co-authored the AAO/HNS clinical practice guideline “Opioid Prescribing for Analgesia After Common Otolaryngology Operations.” Her work has been highly cited and has influenced head and neck programs nationally to adjust their approach to postoperative pain management. She has also helped to develop and refine treatment protocols in conjunction with colleagues on head and neck tumor care.

Meghan Hoppes Nominated for Outstanding PA of the Year Award

Meghan Hoppes, PA-C, in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, was nominated for the RUSH Physician Assistant of the Year Award. Hoppes previously received the award in 2022. The Outstanding PA of the Year candidate exemplifies leadership, commitment and excellence in patient care. Given to only one PA every year, this award demonstrates leadership among peers, dedication to RUSH’s mission and vision, as well as excellence towards the ultimate patient experience. “Meghan’s peers nominated her because she is always going above and beyond to ensure that the patients have the best care,” department administrator Patricia Zavalza, MBA, says. She adds, “Meghan is also a partner to the residents, nurses, providers, and the PA students that shadow her. She cares for our most critical patients and is very passionate about what she does. She is an innovative thinker who is always looking for the best possible outcomes. Many of her colleagues look to her for insights on how to make a process better or just for guidance on next steps. She is truly one of a kind, and we are very lucky to have her on the ENT team.”

Pete Batra, MD, FACS Stanton A. Friedberg, MD Chair in Otolaryngology Professor and Chairman Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery RUSH University Medical Center

2024 Snapshot

The care for patients with complex skull base tumors requires a group of highly specialized physicians and teams that include ENT (rhinologist/skull base surgeon), neurosurgery (both endoscopic intracranial/skull base neurosurgeon and spine specialist neurosurgeon) as well as medical oncology and radiation oncology.

Endoscopic Endonasal Approach for Treatment of Clival Chordoma

Case study

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By Stephan Munich, MD, Peter Papagiannopolous, MD, and Ricardo Fontes, MD, PhD

Sinusitis Study

The Lincoln Park Zoo's director of veterinary medicine reached out to Kerstin Stenson, MD, to help a Francois langur who had a cancerous tumor on the roof of his mouth. The langur underwent two successful surgeries to remove the tumor. "It was an amazing and humbling experience," said Stenson.

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Making an Impact

Kerstin Stenson, MD Performs Groundbreaking Surgery on Monkey

RUSH is one of only a few hospitals in the country implementing positive airway pressure during our drug-induced sleep endoscopy. Most ear, nose and throat providers offer a drug-induced sleep endoscopy and look with a camera in the airway to see what sites are collapsing while the patient is under sedation. At RUSH, we use next level advanced diagnostics to not only determine sites of collapse but also the severity of upper airway collapsibility which we are actively studying to improve surgical outcomes. RUSH is currently performing a significant number of studies related to sleep apnea surgery, including evaluating the effect of body position on upper airway collapsibility during sleep, as well as the impact of upper airway anatomy on surgical outcomes for obstructive sleep apnea. In addition, we are involved in multiple clinical trials evaluating the use of new devices to treat OSA.

Sleep surgery research

Inspire is an implanted surgical device for treating obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) that can ultimately be used to treat patients who are intolerant of continuous positive airway pressure. This minimally invasive, outpatient surgery has been shown to be highly successful in treating OSA in appropriately selected patients. RUSH is the first center in Illinois to perform 200 Inspire procedures and ranks in the top five in the number of Inspire procedures performed in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. As of February 2023, RUSH had an overall 86% success rate in treating patients who received a titration sleep study, which is well above the national average.

Inspire

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PREDICTOR Study Multi-institutional, nation-wide study evaluating anatomic predictors of upper airway collapse during drug-induced sleep endoscopy NOSA trial A pilot study evaluating the impact of nasal surgery on obstructive sleep apnea ADHERE Registry An international, multi-institutional study evaluating the impact of Inspire on OSA

Here are a few noteworthy trials we are participating in.

Clinical Care

Research

Making an Impact

The head and neck cosmetic and reconstructive surgery specialists at RUSH University Medical Center treat patients whose appearance, ability to speak, swallow or smile has been affected by cancer surgery or radiation therapy. They also provide a wide range of in-office facial cosmetic procedures and surgical rejuvenation techniques.

Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at RUSH with Peter Revenaugh, MD

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Rounding at RUSH Podcasts

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Mohs Surgery Treats Patient with Three Types of Skin Cancer

At a routine dermatology appointment, Bob Costigan was diagnosed with three different types of skin cancer that threatened his life. One of his cancers appeared on his nose. While it was deemed curable with Mohs surgery, the procedure required skin from his nose to be excised and Costigan worried what he might look like and how the procedure would affect his life afterward.

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Watch the segment

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Your endorsement will affirm our collective accomplishments and further strengthen our position as a leader nationally in clinical care, graduate and postgraduate education, clinical and translational research and community service. With gratitude,

Clinical Care

We remain the market leader in providing adult tertiary and quaternary level ear, nose and throat (ENT) services in the competitive Chicago landscape. Our surgeons, audiologists, advanced practice providers (APPs) and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) deliver the highest quality care through 17 clinical programs at seven locations throughout the greater Chicago region and Northwest Indiana.

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New Faculty

We welcomed several new faculty to our team this year. Each of them brings remarkable expertise and unique perspectives to care delivery and continue to add to the strength of our clinical programs at main campus and regional sites.

Mausumi Syamal, MD, assumed the role of Director of the Voice, Airway and Swallowing Program. She completed her laryngology training at the Cleveland Clinic and most recently served as Director of Laryngology at Lehigh Valley Health System.

New Locations

Our head and neck surgical oncologists moved to the state-of-the-art Rubschlager Ambulatory Building this past summer. This new facility reflects the best in innovation, collaboration and excellence at RUSH and our amazing head and neck cancer team is delivering cutting-edge, personalized cancer care in collaboration with interrelated specialties.

Head and neck cancer services have also expanded to RUSH Munster and RUSH Oak Lawn under the leadership of Samer Al-khudari, MD. Bobby Tajudeen, MD, and Pete Papagiannopoulos, MD, will expand rhinology and skull base surgery services to RUSH Munster this spring. Our facial plastic surgery team has started an Acute Facial Paralysis Program to facilitate timely diagnosis and prompt treatment to prevent long-term sequela in this patient population. Ryan Smith, MD, and Michael Eggerstedt, MD, have joined the RUSH Affirm Center to provide innovative gender-affirming surgical care. RUSH Otorhinolaryngology remains top two in market share for outpatient surgery for adults and children in the greater Chicago region. Further, our Center for Skull Base and Pituitary Surgery and Head and Neck Cancer Program retain the no. 1 market share in the eight-county region.

Education

On the educational front, our initiatives have played a pivotal role in shaping the education of next generation of otolaryngologists. In addition to the rigorous clinical and academic training, our program offers the unique opportunity to pursue educational tracks in the residency framework.

This symposium was followed by our virtual RUSH’s ENT Course for PCPs on June 9, 2023, to expand knowledge of ENT disorders for primary care physicians. RUSH’s Update in Otolaryngology 2023 returned in-person to the Rubschlager Ambulatory Building on October 27-28, 2023 to share emerging topics with practicing otolaryngologists and trainees. These courses will continue in 2024 while we add a RUSH Head and Neck Comprehensive Cancer Symposium to our educational portfolio this fall.

Research

In the realm of research, our faculty and residents have made substantial contributions to advancing scientific discovery and innovation in our specialty. The department has committed a corpus of $500,000 in seed grants for faculty and residents to promote research inquiry over the next five years.

Biologics are effective for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis by reducing type 2 inflammation. Patients who don’t respond to biologics often require functional endoscopic sinus surgery and represent a challenging population potentially due to non-type 2 pathophysiology. This study characterizes the unique histopathologic features of this population, in particular, the reduction of tissue eosinophilia and increased basement membrane thickening.

Our faculty remain committed to participating in FDA-sponsored and investigator-initiated clinical trials to evaluate novel treatments and surgical devices in rhinology, head and neck cancer, otology, sleep surgery and facial plastic surgery. Two key, pivotal prospective clinical trials are closing recruitment, including the role of microbiome in CRS and sinus tumors and the impact of CRS on patient cognition. Our faculty and residents have over 100 active prospective and retrospective research IRBs and contributed to 60 peer-review publications over the past year.

Residents have an opportunity to obtain a master’s degrees in clinical research and health systems management, global health certification or PSQI certification to further shape their future career paths. A cornerstone of our departmental mission is to disseminate knowledge to practicing physicians and trainees to elevate care of ENT disorders. Under the leadership of Ashok Jagasia, MD, the department hosted the first-of-its-kind RUSH University Otolaryngology Global Health Symposium this past spring. This international, virtual course convened colleagues from around the globe to discuss strategies and challenges to deliver ENT care to vulnerable communities.

Making an Impact

Service

Service remains a key pillar of our departmental mission. Under the leadership of Ashok Jagasia, MD, the department has launched the CURE initiative (Center for the Underserved in RUSH ENT).

The department holds a weekly clinic for otolaryngology care for residents of Chicago’s homeless shelters through in-person and telemedicine visits. Dr. Jagasia continues weekly outreach into central Illinois to provide ENT care for rural communities with limited access to it. Many of these patients receive surgical care at RUSH University Medical Center and RUSH Oak Park Hospital. Our faculty and residents continue to partake in semi-annual global health trips to Peralta, Dominican Republic to provide a wide array of surgical services, while building local health infrastructure for sustained delivery of ENT care.

Several members of our faculty received recognition throughout the last year. Some of their achievements include the following:

Faculty accolades

Pete Batra, MD, FACS, assumed the role of President of American Rhinologic Society at the fall 2023 ARS annual meeting; Bobby Tajudeen, MD, assumed the role of consultant to the American Rhinologic Society at the fall 2023 ARS annual meeting; Mihir Bhayani, MD, assumed the role of Director, Head and Neck Cancer Program within the Rush University Cancer Center in January 2024; Samer Al-khudari, MD, assumed role of Co-Director, Thyroid Cancer Program within the Rush University Cancer Center in January 2024; Peter Filip, MD, was appointed a member on the AAOA Education Committee and AAOA Membership Task Force; Elias Michaelides, MD, was appointed the RUSH Medical College Representative on the RUSH University Faculty Council; Kerstin Stenson, MD, was named the Carole B. and Gordon I. Segal Professorship of Women's Cancer Issues; Peter Revenaugh, MD, was appointed Chair of the RUSH Surgical Quality Committee; Anatoli Karas, MD, performed the 1st in-office Hummingbird case in the state of Illinois; Michael Hutz, MD, was designated a “Physician of Excellence” by Inspire Medical; RUSH Skull Base and Pituitary Surgery Program recognized with NASBS Multidisciplinary Team of Distinction;

Mausumi Syamal, MD, served as a Guest Editor for Otolaryngology Clinics of North America; Michael Hutz, MD, served as an Associate Editor of the Sleep Apnea and Snoring textbook; Peter Revenaugh, MD, was named Editor-in-Chief of Facial Plastic Surgery and Aesthetic Medicine Video Journal; Peter Filip, MD, and Michael Hutz, MD, received pilot research grants for $6,000 each from the RUSH Sinus, Allergy, and Asthma Center; Peer-review publication “Histopathologic features of biologic therapy non-responders in CRSwNP” was featured on Scope it Out in International Forum of Allergy and Rhinology; Pete Papagiannopoulos, MD, and Pete Batra, MD, FACS, received a $200,000 philanthropic gift for sinus cancer research and skull base education; Pete Batra, MD, FACS, and Maha Mahdavinia, MD, received $550,000 philanthropic gifts for the RUSH Sinus, Allergy, and Asthma Center; The Section of Head and Neck Surgical oncology presented nine scientific abstracts at the American Head and Neck Society 11th International Conference on Head and Neck Cancer in Montreal; Departmental faculty and residents delivered five oral and one poster presentations at annual COSM Meeting in Boston; The Section of Rhinology and Skull Base Surgery presented three poster presentations at the annual ARS Meeting in Nashville;

The CURE initiative

Peter Filip, MD, joins the Section of Rhinology and Skull Base Surgery after completing his Advanced Rhinology fellowship at RUSH University Medical Center.

Krupa Patel, MD, joins the Section of Pediatric Otolaryngology after finishing her complex pediatric otolaryngology fellowship at Lurie Children’s Hospital.

Vanessa Stubbs, MD, joins the Section of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology. She completed her fellowship training at University of Miami and was faculty at Rutgers for three years prior to joining RUSH.

Education

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RUSH Otorhinolaryngology: Celebrating Our Collective Achievements

2024 Snapshot

Dear Esteemed Colleagues, I trust this message finds you well. It is my distinct pleasure to share the exceptional accomplishments achieved by our team in RUSH Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery over the past year. It is a testament to our commitment to excellence in advancing clinical care, research, education and service. In the clinical arena, RUSH Otorhinolaryngology has consistently delivered outstanding patient care, marked by innovative treatment approaches and best surgical outcomes. Our educational initiatives stand out for shaping the next generation of otolaryngologists, fostering a culture of learning through cutting-edge training programs. Further, our robust research endeavors have contributed significantly to advancing understanding in various key areas. At RUSH, our pursuit of the highest quality and safety standards has served as a model of care delivery nationally and globally. Vizient ranked RUSH No. 2 in quality in 2023. RUSH has been in the Vizient top five for 10 consecutive years, a feat matched by very few institutions across the country. I invite you to read the highlights below that highlight the remarkable achievements of RUSH Otorhinolaryngology. I am reaching out to seek your invaluable support in the upcoming Doximity survey that is utilized for US News & World Report rankings. Your endorsement will affirm our collective accomplishments and further strengthen our position as a leader nationally in clinical care, graduate and postgraduate education, clinical and translational research and community service. With gratitude,

Pete Batra, MD, FACS Stanton A. Friedberg, MD Chair in Otolaryngology Professor and Chairman Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery RUSH University Medical Center

Clinical Care

Research

Making an Impact

Education

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