WVU Medicine offers multidisciplinary approach for patients with pituitary or anterior skull-base tumors

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – WVU Medicine is now offering patients newly diagnosed with pituitary and anterior skull-base tumors a more centralized approach to initial evaluations. 

The new Multidisciplinary Pituitary Clinic will better enable specialists from the WVU Cancer Institute, the WVU Eye Institute, the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, WVU Medicine Otolaryngology, and WVU Medicine Endocrinology and Metabolism to collaborate on patient care plans.

Prior to the Clinic’s inception, patients needed to travel to the Morgantown campus for three or more specialty appointments, which would occur at different times and facilities.

“No longer will the patient who lives hours away be required to make those visits separately, often at great cost to them and their families,” Jeremy Lewis, M.D., WVU Medicine neurosurgeon, said. “The WVU Medicine Multidisciplinary Pituitary Team offers same-day visits with all of our specialists, including ophthalmologists, endocrinologists, otolaryngologists, neurosurgeons, and radiation oncologists.”

This Clinic is the latest in a string of new multidisciplinary operations at WVU Medicine J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital. 

“We created this Clinic for patients to have their initial evaluation on the same day by all the teams needed to help assess the characteristics of a pituitary mass, evaluate for hormonal abnormalities related to it, and evaluate for medical versus surgical treatment of the tumor,” Nadia Barghouthi, M.D., M.P.H., chief of Endocrinology, said. “This will allow for timelier laboratory, medical, and surgical evaluation and improved collaboration between specialists.”

“A holistic assessment of each patient’s condition is essential for delivering high-quality care and ensuring compliance with treatment protocols,” Chadi Makary, M.D., chief of Rhinology, said.

Somya Chowdhary, M.D., neuro-ophthalmologist, said features such as specialized imagine modalities that can enable early diagnosis and better surgical outcomes and a large, diverse team of specialists makes this new clinic the “only one of its kind in West Virginia.”

The Clinic is open on the first Thursday morning of each month in the Neurosurgery suite located on the fifth floor of the Physician Office Center.

For more information about WVU Medicine, visit WVUMedicine.org.