Monday 7 May 2012

Dr Vincent Letouzey - Better treatments for pelvic organ prolapse

The Ritchie Centre was pleased to have Dr. Vincent Letouzey, from the Caremeau University Hospital, Nîmes, France, present to us last week. Dr. Letouzey will be with our centre for a year to continue his research into developing better treatments for pelvic organ prolapse. This condition affects millions of women and is due to injury sustained by the pelvic floor tissues during childbirth, such that the uterus may descend out of position. One current treatment is to insert a synthetic mesh that will hold the pelvic organs in place and prevent them from descending. This approach requires surgery and while it decreases the clinical recurrence in the short term, post-operative complications, such as infection exist and many will require re-operation.
Dr. Letouzey aims to improve these synthetic meshes, to include properties such as infection resistance and MRI visualization. To date, he has experimented with meshes that have a controlled release of antibiotics and this has shown a significant in vivo antibacterial effect. Another mesh coating, with an aerograph procedure, has allowed MRI mesh visualization. To achieve this, two new MRI visible polymers (degradable and non-degradable) were coated onto meshes using an airbrush system. This coating allowed the visualization of meshes in vitro and in vivo with experimental and clinical MRIs and lasts for at least one year. This property is very useful, especially when re-operation is required and locating the current mesh is of great importance.
Having Dr. Letouzey with us this year will be very exciting and we look forward to the outcomes of this collaboration.