2024-03-16 03:43:57
Use a automated cold cap system during a chemotherapy treatment is a process that helps prevent hair loss which usually occurs in that phase of the disease.
In March 2022, the arrival of DigniCap, the first scalp cooling equipment to meet that goal, was announced in Uruguay. He 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 from the public system and the vast majority kept their hair until the last stagesthe director of the Oncology department at that hospital, Gabriel Krygier, informed 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 who settled in Clinics Hospital (as the university sanatorium in Uruguay is formally called) was the first in Latin America.
In the first stage, three patients had to abandon treatment due to “cold intolerance” since The system forces patients to spend four or five hours under the cooling system. Of that total, there were two who lost 50% of their hair. The rest (19 of the 24) did the complete treatment, tolerated it and kept their hair. This implies an impact on the quality of life relevant to 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 country. The 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 less cellular absorption of the drugs.
Also in medical terms, Krygier pointed out that the objective of cooling is to prevent chemotherapy drugs from reaching the hair follicles and causing hair loss during treatment.
In October, a second Dignicap began operating, which incorporates care for patients from the private health system and insurance. They are referred by the treating doctor from any area of the country and The cost to access the system is 20,000 Uruguayan pesos (about USD 500).
This value 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 only the treatment, the surgery, the chemo, but being able to know that the treatment ends while preserving the hair, which implies dignity in the patient,” he explained.
This treatment begins 30 minutes before chemotherapy begins – what is called the “pre-freezing stage” – and continues for about two or three hours during the process. In the end, the patient continues with the cap for another half hour to “maintain cooling,” Krygier said.
The technology is only in the Hospital de Clínicas and was incorporated from a donation. There was a private donor who, with “a lot of generosity,” gave the money to the hospital and its authorities made the connections to incorporate the Swedish team. The director of Oncology explained that having this equipment is key for a project that they presented before an Ethics Committee.
Fuente: infobae.com