Clinical highlights

Clinical milestones

Transplant Center surpasses first-year liver transplant goal, launches live donor program

In September, the UC Davis Transplant Center celebrated the one-year anniversary of its first liver transplant in 2023. During this first year the center performed 41 liver transplants, surpassing its initial year goal of 12–14. The team had a perfect 100% patient survival rate and a graft survival rate of 100% — well above the national average of 83% according to the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS). Additional milestones included being certified as a liver transplant program by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which means the program can accept potential liver transplant patients insured by Medicare or Medi-Cal.

UC Davis Health has also launched a live donor liver transplant program, said Lea K. Matsuoka, M.D., section chief for liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery in the Division of Transplant Surgery. During this procedure, a portion of the liver from a healthy, living person is removed and placed into someone whose liver is no longer working properly.

New NICU unit cares for the smallest of preemies

UC Davis Children’s Hospital is proud to announce the birth of its new small baby unit. Located within the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), the small baby unit is specifically equipped for babies who are born less than 27 weeks gestation or weigh less than 2.2 pounds. The team has taken care of infants born as young as 22 weeks. The small baby unit provides care for up to six babies at one time, and includes dedicated equipment such as special breathing machines and beds to create a stable thermal microenvironment. National survival rates of infants born at 22 weeks are around 20-25%; the survival rate at UC Davis is double the national average. The unit is supported through a planned gift from local residents Victor and Phela Vesci through the Vesci Family Trust.

New procedure, clinic to treat resistant hypertension

UC Davis Health cardiologists recently performed the institution’s first renal denervation procedure to treat hypertension, a significant advancement in cardiovascular care for the region. Outside of clinical trials, UC Davis Medical Center is the first hospital in Northern California to utilize the minimally invasive procedure, performed here by associate professor of cardiology Surabhi Atreja, M.D., F.A.C.C., R.P.V.I.

Recently approved by the FDA, the procedure uses a catheter to deliver ultrasound energy to overactive nerves in the renal arteries that contribute to elevated blood pressure. Clinical trials have demonstrated significant and sustained blood pressure reductions in patients who undergo it.

UC Davis Health has also introduced a specialized resistant hypertension clinic for patients with uncontrolled blood pressure. Patients are offered comprehensive care, including remote blood pressure monitoring, investigations of the cause of their hypertension, and learn whether they are candidates for these new innovative procedures. Among people with high blood pressure, twenty percent have resistant hypertension.

Colorectal surgery earns Surgical Quality Partner honors

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer (NAPRC) designated the colorectal surgery program at UC Davis Health a Surgical Quality Partner. The award is given to programs that excel in quality of care, preventing complications, saving lives and reducing costs. UC Davis Health was one of the first institutions in the country to receive the designation, and remains the only university-based NAPRC accredited program in Northern California as of press time, according to program leaders.

Clinical programs

Expanded care for complex kidney stones

UC Davis Health has expanded its capacity to treat complex kidney stone cases with the addition of Kaitlan Cobb M.D., a skilled endourologist with advanced training in kidney stone disease using endoscopic techniques. Cobb joins Noah Canvasser, M.D., an endourologist who has been with UC Davis Health since 2017. Canvasser is an associate professor and Cobb is an assistant professor with the UC Davis Health Department of Urologic Surgery. More than half a million people go to emergency departments each year because of painful kidney stones, and UC Davis Health is the only multidisciplinary kidney stone center in the Sacramento region. Now with two full-time endourologists, UC Davis Health is well equipped to provide comprehensive care to the large number of kidney stone patients seen throughout Northern California.

Pediatric neurological surgery team expands

UC Davis Children’s Hospital is now home to the region’s first comprehensive neurosurgical care program. The Pediatric Neurological Surgery program has expanded to provide 24/7 neurosurgical care by three fellowship-trained specialist physicians and four specialized advance practice providers (APPs). By combining the subspecialty expertise of all three surgeons on the team, the hospital can offer treatment for the full breadth of pediatric neurosurgical disorders.

The surgical team includes Marike Zwienenberg, M.D., Julia Sharma, M.D., F.R.C.S.C., F.A.A.N.S., and Cameron Sadegh, M.D., Ph.D. The APPs, Teresa Gonzalez, N.P., Tram James, N.P., Max Caudle, P.A., and Peggy Jung, N.P., are nurse practitioners and physician assistants specially trained in pediatric neurosurgery. The support of the APP team increases access to services and helps with the transition from inpatient to outpatient care.

New adolescent medicine program expansion

UC Davis Health has expanded its adolescent medicine program to include two new providers for a total of three. The providers, who are medicine-certified adolescent pediatricians, have the ability to provide in-person care for adolescents and young adult patients in the local community including Folsom, Roseville, Rocklin, El Dorado Hills, Granite Bay, Davis, Elk Grove and Rancho Cordova. Service types offered through the program focus on holistic treatment of developmental-based specialties such as reproductive care, substance abuse, high-risk behavior, eating disorders and all outpatient services. Patients who see the providers in this program retain the relationship with their primary care provider.

Same-day, in-home urgent care now available to cancer patients

People being treated at UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center are the latest UC Davis Health patients to benefit from urgent care delivered to their home. The program aims to increase access to care and decrease emergency department visits. UC Davis Health has partnered with DispatchHealth, the nation’s first comprehensive in-home medical care provider, to roll out the new program. DispatchHealth assigned two vehicles within a 25-mile radius of UC Davis Medical Center. Care will be furnished by a nurse practitioner or physician assistant, and a trained medical technician. A board-certified emergency department physician is also available virtually, as needed. UC Davis Health patients can request access to the new at home urgent care by contacting their oncologist, primary care provider, advice nurse or UC Davis Health’s Express Care.

New Pharmacy Shared Service Center opens

UC Davis Health recently opened a new state-of-the-art Pharmacy Shared Services Center (PSSC), expanding capabilities and capacity. It offers home delivery services for chronic and specialty medications and a dedicated space to support patients needing infusion care. The URAC-accredited UC Davis Specialty Pharmacy also provides patient education and clinical management of specialty therapies by highly trained clinical pharmacists, with home delivery available and 24/7 available pharmacist phone support. Service areas include cardiology, dermatology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, hepatology, infectious diseases, neurology, oncology, pulmonology, rheumatology and transplant. The PSSC — a leading-edge facility spanning 80,000 square feet — will house the supply chain warehouse, the specialty pharmacy, home delivery pharmacy, home infusion services, and offices.

Helping lung disease patients cope with wildfire smoke

A multidisciplinary UC Davis Health team has developed a real-time action plan to help patients with lung disease cope with wildfire smoke, and is calling on health systems to create wildfire preparedness action plans to support patients with preexisting respiratory diseases. Their article, published in the Journal of the COPD Foundation, identifies the needs of high-risk populations when affected by wildfire smoke, which has been shown to exacerbate diseases of the lungs, heart, brain and nervous system, skin and other major organs.

UC Davis Health’s targeted wildfire preparedness action plan uses a population health approach, with steps such as identifying at-risk patients, providing air quality health education, personalizing outreach, distributing “go-bags” of supplies, and partnering with community organizations.

Clinical technology

Robotic-assisted surgery now offered at UC Davis Children’s Hospital

A robotic-assisted surgery program is now available at the UC Davis Children’s Surgery Center. The program is directed by pediatric general surgeon Payam Saadai, M.D., who worked for the past year with the adult robotic surgery team to expand this minimally invasive approach to pediatric patients in the Sacramento region.

Saadai, who was previously trained in robotic-assisted surgery during a pediatric surgery fellowship, worked alongside bariatric surgery expert Shushmita Ahmed, M.D., F.A.C.S., D.A.B.O.M. — experienced in performing robotic surgeries at UC Davis — to perform the first pediatric robotic-assisted procedure in the Department of Surgery.

Saadai said robotic surgery offers the same benefits of a minimally invasive approach – including reduced pain and discomfort, faster recovery, minimal scarring and shorter hospital stays — but also confers a degree of visualization and depth that traditional laparoscopy lacks, as well as improved instrument articulation. The ideal application is in areas where it has traditionally been difficult to reach with conventional open surgery or even laparoscopy, he said, such as the deep pelvis.

Read a Q&A with Saadai

New imaging technology to catch lung cancer earlier

UC Davis Health is first in the region to deploy a new state-of-the-art mobile 3D CT imaging system to catch lung cancer earlier by pinpointing potentially cancerous growths for more precise biopsies. Chinh Phan, D.O., Director of the Interventional Pulmonology Program, and UC Davis pulmonary doctors paired the Cios Spin, made by Siemens Healthineers, with a breakthrough robotic-assisted bronchoscopy system called the Ion, made by Intuitive. Cios Spin creates real-time 3D images, while the Ion allows doctors to precisely examine air passages.

This real-time visualization means shorter procedures, improved accuracy, safer biopsies, and earlier detection.

After a year of using this system, Phan and his team are seeing more lung cancers diagnosed much earlier when they’re more treatable; for the first time, he said the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center is seeing more lung cancers diagnosed at stage 1 as compared to late stage.