A renowned surgeon from New England, Iannitti came to work at Carolinas Medical Center in 2006. He was wooed by doctors and administrators who share the goal of building a program that will attract other liver specialists, increase the hospital's prestige and bottom line, and offer more treatment options for patients. Since Iannitti's arrival at the hospital, the number of liver operations performed at CMC has jumped from 26 in 2005 to 202 last year.
Because of Iannitti, patients with liver disease can now get a wider range of treatments, from medicines to surgery to transplants, without leaving the Charlotte area. Among the new options is a treatment for advanced liver cancer called microwave ablation that Iannitti pioneered at Brown University in Rhode Island. It's the procedure he used that day in OR 4, to burn away liver tumors with microwave energy. He had done the surgery more than 100 times since 2003. But on that day in February 2007, he was unusually excited. It was the first time he'd done the procedure in the Southeast. And it was the realization of a dream. Like the Carolinas Heart Institute, which focuses on diseases of the heart, the hospital's new effort is aimed at a specific organ - that flat, triangular blob beloved by the Liver Guy.
Before Iannitti, most Charlotte-area patients who needed major liver or pancreas surgery traveled to other cities. That's because CMC had no faculty doctors who specialized in caring for liver patients who didn't need transplants. The hospital depended on community doctors who are also busy with private practices. With his hiring, Iannitti was the first CMC surgeon who operated on the liver or pancreas daily and exclusively. He and Dr. Daniel Hayes, CMC's liver transplant surgeon for 15 years, have since brought in about a half dozen more liver specialists.
With more doctors, more patients are staying in - and even traveling to - Charlotte for treatment of liver disease. CMC is one of only four centers in the United States where microwave ablation is available. Since the first procedure on Kevin Heslin, Iannitti has performed about 20 in Charlotte. In total, liver patients at CMC - surgical and nonsurgical -- rose from 150 in 2006 to more than 700 in 2007.
The liver
At 4 to 6 pounds, the liver is the largest internal organ in the body. It's also one of the most vascular, thickly embedded with arteries and veins that handle a half-gallon of blood every minute. Livers filter toxins from the blood and break down chemicals, hormones and medicines. They process glucose, carbohydrates and fats. They create proteins that help the blood clot. And they regulate the immune system.
Liver diseases:
Today's most common liver diseases are cirrhosis from alcohol abuse and hepatitis C, a viral infection often transmitted through sharing of contaminated needles or blood. A third liver disease is about to make it to the top. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which can lead to cirrhosis and liver failure, is on the rise. It's linked to the country's obesity epidemic.