Danbury Hospital Fights Digestive Disorders With New Doctors & New Programs

Whether you call them “gastro-intestinal diseases” or “digestive disorders,” diseases like Chron’s disease, ulcers, and esophageal reflux affect more people than cancer or heart disease.

Gastroenterologists, the doctors who specialize in digestive disorders, also play an important role in detecting, preventing, and treating other diseases such as hepatitis and colorectal cancer.

“Gastroenterologists work closely with oncologists, surgeons, and other doctors to provide an integrated compliment of skills for the patient,” said Joseph Fiorito, MD, chief of gastroenterology at Danbury Hospital.

A special focus on colon cancer began in 1995 when Dr Fiorito directed a communitywide mail and advertising program of education promoting screening for colon cancer. “The program was very successful. People in our communities began to understand that colon cancer, which almost always develops from polyps in the colon, can be diagnosed and removed with a colonoscopy,” Dr Fiorito said. “However, we still are not reaching as many people as we should and that’s why we stepped up our efforts even further.”

A major event to promote awareness of colorectal cancer took place at the Danbury Fair Mall in June when a team led by the Endoscopy Unit at Danbury Hospital hosted “Coco the Colossal Colon,” a 40- foot-long model of a human colon that provided an unusual educational awareness program.

Key staff additions and new programs are providing advances in care for digestive diseases. Recently Danbury Hospital announced the addition to staff of surgeon Stuart Bussell, MD, and gastroenterologist Steven Brandwein, MD, who joined the team to treat colon cancer, hepatobiliary diseases, and other digestive disorders. They bring extensive expertise in colorectal surgery, endoscopy and other advanced imaging techniques.

The hospital announced that Dr Brandwein has been named director of the Comprehensive Liver, Pancreas, and Biliary Center at Danbury Hospital. “This center creates an exciting interdisciplinary structure that gathers our strengths in several related departments into one carefully designed program that will benefit the people in our region,” said Dr Brandwein. The center will employ advanced, state-of-the-art diagnostic techniques and will become a referral center for evaluation and treatment of these diseases.

In another announcement Dr Fiorito welcomed Joan Culpepper-Morgan, MD, to the staff. Dr Culpepper-Morgan is a board-certified gastroenterologist, author, and researcher.

 “Women are just as much at risk for colorectal cancer as are men,” Dr Culpepper-Morgan said. “We plan to reach out to women with special educational awareness campaigns.”

 She adds to the staff her special interests in women’s digestive disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome and nutrition issues.

“We are pleased but not content with our progress,” Dr Fiorito said. “We have improved endoscopic services, added capsule endoscopy, and utilize the Bravo System, a much easier, better tolerated way to evaluate reflux. We now receive regionwide referrals for our argon plasma coagulator that treats bleeding lesions and polyps.”

Gastroenterologists participate in a special program to treat hepatitis B and C. Dr Fiorito, who serves on the Connecticut board of the American Liver Foundation, participates in research aimed at evaluating better treatments for hepatitis C focused on the clinical evaluation of new treatment regimens.

Looking ahead, Dr Fiorito sees two areas of focus for his section. “We must continue to expand our capability and capacity to serve the community, especially in endoscopy. Second, we will use the latest national practice guidelines to ensure that the quality of our work meets the highest standards.

“And one development we are working on that patients will surely welcome is improvement in how they need to prepare for a colonoscopy,” he added.