Welcome to the inaugural issue of St. John's Physician e-Update, a quarterly e-newsletter designed to communicate information about new procedures and services offered at St. John's to our referring physicians. Please feel free to forward this to any of your colleagues. We hope you'll find these updates useful in your practice and would appreciate any feedback you have.

• Lumbar spine surgery at a crossroads
• St. John's Hospital installs multi-slice CT scanner
• St. John's Clinic-Ear, Nose & Throat offers Oticon Delta hearing aid
• Less invasive procedure reduces stroke risk in carotid artery disease patients
• Laser ablation for bladder outlet obstruction available at St. John's

Lumbar spine surgery at a crossroads
By: Alan Scarrow, MD, JD, Chairman, St. John's Neurosurgery
Low back pain has become a significant public health problem in the U.S. Approximately 80 percent of all people will have back pain at some point in their life, and back pain is second to upper respiratory problems as a reason to see a physician. Fortunately, 80-90 percent of all patients with back pain will have their symptoms resolve within six weeks of onset. Nonetheless, there remains a large number of Americans who despite good conservative therapy, continue to have significant low back problems. As a result, demand for a surgical "solution" to low back problems has been significant. 
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St. John's Hospital installs multi-slice CT scanner
St. John’s Hospital installed and began using the latest computed tomography (CT) imaging software and machinery, also known as a 64-slice CT scanner, July 31. The device produces precise diagnostic pictures within five to 10 seconds, enabling one to “freeze” motion and better define certain disease processes. St. John’s new scanner is the Lightspeed Volume Computed Tomography system offered by GE Healthcare.
“This technology could dramatically alter the way we currently treat patients with suspected coronary disease and chest pain,” says Kelvin Van Osdol, M.D., chairman of St. John's Cardiovascular Services.
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St. John's Clinic-Ear, Nose & Throat offers Oticon Delta hearing aid
St. John’s Clinic-Ear, Nose & Throat aims to change the perception of hearing aids among the 50-plus age group. With the help of a new, state-of-the-art digital hearing aid with a groundbreaking new design, adults beginning to experience hearing loss don’t have to give up on looking as young as they feel.
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Less invasive procedure reduces stroke risk in carotid artery disease patients
St. John's Clinic cardiologist Robert Merritt, M.D., and colleague Clyde Redmond, M.D., at St. John's can now perform a less-invasive procedure to prevent the risk of stroke in patients with carotid artery disease.
“This is a new option for patients, especially those that may be considered too high-risk for the open surgery and therefore would be excluded from the stroke prevention benefits of carotid artery treatment,” Dr. Merritt says.
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Laser ablation for bladder outlet obstruction available at St. John's
Mark Walterskirchen, MD, FACS,  Eric Guilliams, M.D., Jeff Johnson, MD, FACS, and Robert D. Johnson, MD, FACS, at St. John’s Clinic-Urology-Fremont are now performing laser ablation of the prostate using the Greenlight (PVP) or the Holmium lasers (HoLAP) as an alternative to transurethral resection (TURP) for treatment of bladder outlet obstruction. 
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