SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

SNUH-MAYO
Korea-US best medical skills on deep brain stimulation to be transferred to Asia 
- International training program co-hosted by SNUH and MAYO Clinic  
- Live demonstration of DBS viewed by around 50 Asian physicians
- A sustainable partnership built with Mayo Clinic following MGH and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) and Mayo Clinic (MAYO) gave a live demonstration of deep brain stimulation (DBS) to 50 physicians from Asia on the 16th.

The surgery was performed by Professor Sun-ha Paek of the department of neurosurgery (SNUH) and Professor Kendall Lee of the department of neurosurgery (MAYO).

Professor Paek and Professor Lee inserted electrodes into the right brain and left brain, respectively. They led the operation sharing opinions and explained the progress in detail using the microphone attached to the face.

Participants in an auditorium watched the live operation performed by the two specialists with breathless attention. They couldn't take their eyes off the screen since even 1 mm departures of electrodes from the targets will lead to completely different response of a patient.

The 6-hour surgery was successfully completed. Professors Paek and Lee both correctly implanted the electrodes in the planned spots. The patient (male, 50) who could not control body movement due to Parkinson's disease had improved symptoms after undergoing DBS.

With medical advancements of Korea, there is a growing number of educational programs with overseas medical professionals. However, providing a training program with the world's best hospital like Mayo Clinic is a very rare case.

Prior to the training, SNUH and MAYO co-hosted an academic symposium on the 14th and promised to hold the event in the United States next year and in Korea the year after next, expanding cooperation into diverse fields such as surgical research.  

Consequently, SNUH has built sustainable partnerships with Mayo Clinic following Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH, brain tumor) and the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (endoscopy in skull-bases surgery).

Professor Sun-ha Paek of the department of neurosurgery said, "For this event, ten Mayo Clinic medical professionals visited SNUH. It is of great significance that a lot of Mayo Clinic physicians visit and perform surgery with local counterparts." "We will continue to cooperate with leading hospitals around the world to upgrade SNUH's reputation."