News Releases

Leader in Gastric Bypass to be Featured in Webcast from Memorial Hermann Memorial City Hospital

Houston, Texas, May 18, 2005 – Obesity poses a growing health threat to Americans, and more than 140,000 patients underwent weight-loss surgery last year. Nationally recognized bariatric surgeon Adam Naaman, M.D., F.A.C.S., will demonstrate his innovative gastric bypass technique during a live, surgical webcast on June 15 at 5:30 p.m. CDT.

Dr. Naaman will perform the procedure at Memorial Hermann Memorial City Hospital in Houston, Texas.

“Patients must first try to lose weight through diet and exercise, but for many morbidly obese patients, that’s not enough,” explained Dr. Naaman, bariatric medical director at Memorial Hermann Memorial City Hospital. People are considered morbidly obese if they are more than 100 lbs. overweight, are more than twice their ideal weight, or have a body mass index of at least 40.

“While gastric bypass surgery can be very effective for morbidly obese patients, it requires a life-long commitment to changes in diet and activity,” said Dr. Naaman, who has performed nearly 1,300 bariatric surgeries. Patients must undergo psychological and nutritional evaluations and attend at least two bariatric support group meetings before becoming surgical candidates at Memorial Hermann Memorial City Hospital.

The Roux-en-Y procedure, which Dr. Naaman will perform, combines the two main principles of bariatric surgery – restriction and malabsorption. The surgeon divides the stomach, creating a small pouch that greatly restricts the amount of food the patient can eat. The procedure also reroutes and shortens the small intestine, decreasing the amount of food energy absorbed by the body. The bypassed stomach and intestine segments are reattached below the pouch, so the fluids and enzymes provided by those organs can drain into the intestines and facilitate digestion.

Bariatric surgery carries a number of potentially severe risks, including blood clots, infections and hernias. But morbid obesity can lead to severe consequences, such as cardiovascular and breathing problems, diabetes and depression. Physicians carefully weigh the risks and benefits before recommending surgery.

Serving as online moderators during the live webcast will be surgeon David F. Mobley, M.D., and anesthesiologist Scott Duncan, M.D. The moderators will receive e-mailed questions from viewers worldwide and relay them to Dr. Naaman, who will answer selected, appropriate inquiries during the surgery. The Webcast will be available for online viewing for at least one year. Dr. Naaman and his team will continue to receive and answer e-mailed questions following the surgery for four weeks or longer, according to the number of responses received.

The program is the fifth in a series sponsored by Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, giving medical professionals and consumers the opportunity to view innovative surgical procedures live on the Internet from anywhere in the world. Archived content from the first two webcasts has been selected by the prestigious National Library of Medicine for inclusion on its Medline Plus Web site.

To view the Roux-en-Y webcast, visit http://www.or-live.com/memorialhermann/1387. For more information about EVAR, call 713-222-CARE (2273).

For more information, contact Media Relations.