Hudson Valley Hospital Center Now has Latest Testing for Reflux and GI disorders

June 7, 2011 - PRLog -- Digestive experts will talk about the latest testing available for Reflux disease and other GI disorders at a free program on June 9 at Hudson Valley Hospital Center.

Patients suffering from Acid Reflux and other gastrointestinal conditions can now be diagnosed more successfully and treated more quickly at Hudson Valley Hospital Center’s new GI physiology lab.

Using specialized tools, doctors can view, diagnose and treat conditions of the digestive tract more easily. Hudson Valley Hospital Center now has the Bravo pH Monitoring System, a gold standard method for pH monitoring of gastric reflux. The Bravo uses a capsule that is implanted endoscopically on the esophagus to measure pH levels.

“Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is when acid travels up from the stomach into the esophagus and causes burning and other symptoms,’’ said Dr. Eric Teitel, Director of the GI Physiology Lab at HVHC. “One of the important things in treating Reflux patients is to know how severe this reflux is and when it occurs. Our new physiology lab gives doctors the ability to monitor these changes over a 48-hour period to help us better evaluate a course of treatment.

The lab has some of the most sophisticated testing in the area, giving HVHC physicians the ability to create 3-D images of the function of the esophagus. This enables them to more easily diagnose and treat various diseases of the esophagus and stomach.

Bravo pH Monitoring collects 48 hours of pH data, twice the data of conventional catheter-based tests, increasing the ability to document relationships between atypical and reflux events. The center also does catheter-based, 24-hour impedance studies, which can detect non-acidic reflux.

Robert Vitolo, a patient of Dr. Teitel’s, has suffered from acid reflux disease for many years. Medications were no longer effective. Vitolo said that he recently had the testing done at Hudson Valley Hospital Center because he hoped that it would help determine whether or not he was a candidate for a minimally invasive procedure that might relieve his pain.

"It took maybe 15 or 20 minutes and there was absolutely no pain,'' said Vitolo. "I woke up and it was done, and there was no discomfort afterwards."  

Dr. Teitel and Dr. Klaus Thaler, Director of HVHC’s Minimally Invasive Surgery Center, will hold a patient education seminar on the symptoms and treatment of Acid Reflux and on the new testing available at HVHC. The free program will be held on June 9 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Wagner Conference Room at Hudson Valley Hospital Center, 1980 Crompond Road, Cortlandt Manor, NY.  A light supper will be served.  

Dr. Thaler’s clinical work and research focus is laparoscopic and endoscopy surgery of the digestive tract.  Dr. Thaler’s work is published in more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and six books and he has given more than 50 lectures at national and international societies in recent years.

Dr. Teitel is a gastroenterologist and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Hudson Valley Hospital Center, as well as, Director of its Physiology Lab.

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Hudson Valley Hospital Center in Cortlandt Manor. NY provides quality, comprehensive medical care and state-of-the-art diagnostic treatment, education and preventive services. Call 914-737-9000 or visit www.hvhc.org We practice Patientology!