2024-09-10 07:57:30
Use a automated cold cap system during chemotherapy treatment is a process that helps prevent hair loss which usually occurs at that stage of the disease.
In March 2022, the arrival of DigniCapthe first scalp cooling equipment to meet that goal, was announced in Uruguay. University Hospital It was presented as one of the places where this treatment could be applied and, two years later, its authorities have the first results.
The first stage in this public hospital extended over a period of one year and was focused on women with breast cancer and ovarian cancer. The system was applied to 24 patients in the public system and The vast majority kept their hair until the later stagesinformed the director of the Oncology department of that hospital, Gabriel Krygier, to the newscast Underlined.
The Dignicap section acts by cooling the scalp and thus prevents between 65% and 95% of hair loss in patients with solid tumors receiving chemotherapy. The one that was installed in the Hospital of Clinics (as the university sanatorium in Uruguay is formally known) was the first in Latin America.
In the first stage, three patients had to abandon treatment due to “intolerance to cold” since The system forces patients to be under the cooling system for four or five hours.Of that total, two patients lost 50% of their hair. The rest (19 of the 24) completed the full treatment, tolerated it and kept their hair. This implies a significant impact on the quality of life for a cancer patient.
The treatment consists of the use of automated cold caps that are based on the action of hypothermia of the scalp, summarized a note from The CountryThe medical explanation is that this causes vasoconstriction of the blood vessels, which results in a reduction in the arrival of cytostatics to the area and, therefore, in a lower cellular absorption of the drugs.
In medical terms, Krygier said the goal of cooling is to prevent chemotherapy drugs from reaching hair follicles and causing hair loss during treatment.
In October, a second Dignicap began to operate, which includes care for patients from the private health system and insurance companies. They are referred by the treating physician from any area of the country and The cost to access the system is 20,000 Uruguayan pesos (about USD 500).
This price is only for the materials. The treatment requires “two bags,” one that is applied to the scalp and generates “frost and cold,” and another made of neoprene, which “protects,” the doctor explained.
This treatment is “key” to the quality of life of patients with cancer. “It is not just the treatment, the surgery, the chemo, but knowing that the treatment ends with the patient keeping their hair, which implies dignity for the patient,” he explained.
This treatment begins 30 minutes before chemotherapy begins – what is called the “pre-freezing phase” – and continues for two to three hours. At the end, the patient keeps the cap on for another half hour to “maintain cooling,” Krygier said.
The technology is only available at the Hospital de Clínicas and was incorporated through a donation. There was a private donor who, with “great generosity,” gave the money to the hospital and its authorities made the connections to incorporate the Swedish equipment. The director of Oncology explained that having this equipment is key for a project that they presented to an Ethics Committee.
Fuente: infobae.com