The AdventHealth Center for Interventional Endoscopy Expands and Continues Its Legacy of Innovation

The AdventHealth Center for Interventional Endoscopy (CIE) recently expanded its physician team and has added innovative services to provide comprehensive, multidisciplinary care for patients with even the most complex digestive disease issues.

A History of Quality Care and Innovation

Founded in 2012, CIE was Central Florida’s first Interventional Endoscopy Center and has since evolved to become one of the largest complex endoscopy centers in the country. Attracting patients from across the globe, CIE integrates therapeutic endoscopy with minimally invasive surgery to diagnose and treat a wide range of complex gastrointestinal diseases from pancreatico-biliary diseases and cancerous and pre-cancerous gastrointestinal lesions to swallowing disorders among others. These endoscopic interventions often provide an alternative to more invasive surgeries.

The AdventHealth CIE is led by a skilled team of experienced physicians who not only are committed to providing the best quality care to patients but are also knowledge generators and take pride in educating and training the next generation of advanced endoscopists:

• Muhammad K. Hasan, MD
• Kambiz S. Kadkhodayan, MD
• Mustafa A. Arain, MD
• Dennis Yang, MD

The CIE physicians are also committed to working in partnership with referring physicians to ensure patients receive personalized care that meets their individual needs. In addition, they strongly believe in returning patients back to their referring physicians to ensure continuity of care once their interventional endoscopy treatment needs are met.

Our Programs and Services

Under the leadership of Mustafa A. Arain, MD, CIE launched Central Florida’s first dedicated Pancreas Center in December 2021 to provide patients with coordinated, multidisciplinary care for a full range of pancreatic conditions, including recurrent acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI), hereditary pancreatitis, pancreatic cysts and complex disease of the biliary system, as well as hereditary pancreatic cancer screening. Through this new center, gastroenterologists, surgeons, endocrinologists, nutritionists, health psychologists, genetic counselors and pain management physicians work together to treat the whole patient — mind, body and spirit.

Under the leadership of Dennis Yang, MD, the AdventHealth CIE recently expanded its Third Space Endoscopy Program. Also known as submucosal endoscopy, these highly specialized and minimally invasive procedures are performed deep inside the gastrointestinal tract by working through a submucosal tunnel thus avoiding major surgeries. CIE physicians perform the following third space endoscopy procedures:

• Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) for treatment of esophageal disorders such as achalasia and others
• Gastric peroral endoscopic myotomy (G-POEM) for treatment of gastroparesis and sluggish stomach
• Submucosal tunneling endoscopic resection (STER) for submucosal tumors
• Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for pre-cancerous and early cancerous lesions

In addition, under the leadership of Kambiz S. Kadkhodayan, MD, CIE will be adding an Endobariatrics program in 2022 to offer patients access to endoscopic weight-loss procedures such as endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG), also known as the accordion procedure. An alternative to traditional gastric sleeve surgery, ESG is a minimally invasive weight-loss procedure that uses an endoscope with an attached suturing device to place sutures in the stomach.

Other endoscopic procedures available at CIE include:

• Zenker’s diverticulum treatment
• Deep enteroscopy for small bowel diseases
• Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) for pre-cancerous lesions throughout the GI tract
• Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)
• Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)
• Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), also called upper endoscopy
• EUS-guided gastro-jejunostomy anastomosis creation for gastric outlet obstruction
• Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy/jejunostomy
• Radiofrequency and cryoablation for treatment of Barrett’s esophagus

AdventHealth CIE is also one of only a few programs in the nation to offer advanced pediatric endoscopy services for patients as young as less than a month and serves as a regional referral center for such services.

Ongoing Research and Access to Clinical Trials

In addition to offering the latest diagnostic and treatment options, the CIE physician team is also actively involved in ongoing research to explore clinical outcomes and help identify potential new treatments for a range of GI conditions, including pancreatitis, pancreatic necrosis, esophageal and gastric dysmotility disorders, and colon polyps. This includes offering patients access to clinical trials when established methods have proven ineffective.

Advancing Patient Care Through Physician Education

With a mission to advance the field of interventional endoscopy and share knowledge across the globe, CIE hosts a number of physician education events throughout the year for local, national and international audiences and has several planned for 2022. These include major annual conferences, monthly Grand Rounds events with live cases and didactic lectures, and weekly offerings like journal clubs and faculty lectures. CIE is also actively involved in training the next generation of interventional endoscopists through its Advanced Endoscopy Fellowship program.

Future Plans — Regional Expansion

In addition to the new Endobariatrics program, CIE plans to open regional centers to enhance access and convenience, bringing some of the most common interventional endoscopic services like EUS/ERCP closer to communities where patients live. The first such center is slated to open in Celebration in late summer/early fall of 2022.

To refer a patient, please call our CIE schedulers at Call407-303-2570, option 1. You can also visit AdventHealthCIE.com to learn more.

A clinical gastroenterologist specializing in advanced endoscopic procedures, including ERCP, EUS, EMR, ESD, Dr. Hasan helped establish the AdventHealth CIE and currently serves as its Medical Director. He also launched the CIE Advanced Endoscopy Fellowship in 2013 and has directed that program since its inception.