Sanno Hospital

Tokyo Voice Center
International University of Health and Welfare

Voice Center
The need of substitute voices has been socially recognized for persons who have lost their voices due to laryngeal cancer. To meet the needs of the times, "Tokyo Voice Center of international University of Health and Welfare" is opened in January 2001 at "Sanno Satellite Hospital", the site of the old Sanno Hospital, which has been remodeled. As Chief of the Center, we have invited Assistant-Professor Hiroyuki Fukuda M.D., Department of Otolaryngology, School of Medicine, Keio University, to join us. Dr. Fukuda is a first-rank professional in the field of laryngeal diseases and voice disorders. This kind of facility is available in the U.S.A., but in Japan, it is an epoch-making event, and this is the first trial in Japan. This Center is organized in cooperation with Sanno Hospital.

Treatment
Tokyo Voice Center treat patients suffering from phonatory disorders and laryngeal diseases. They conduct the research on these diseases as well. Phonatory disorders are often found in professionals such as singers and stage actors / actresses. One interesting feature of laryngeal diseases is that most patients are men in middle age or above. The Center is iquipped with various technologies including an electronic fiberscope for the examination of voice disorders.

Accomplishments

The clinical team, of which Professor Hiroyuki Fukuda heads, has been producing remarkable results and accomplishment with more than 2,400 cases of laryngo-micro surgery, and more than 600 cases of surgical operations regarding laryngeal cancer, hypopharyngal cancer, and thyroid-related diseases. The team's accomplishments are worldly acknowledged.

Respiratory Disease Center

According to the statistics of 1999 dynamic trends in population, cancer was placed at the top position for ''Cause of Death" in Japan, and in the category of cancer-related causes of death in men, lung cancer, in 1994, overtook stomach cancer as the leading cause of death. In line with the above data, ''Respiratory Center of Sanno Hospital" has the full support of the First Surgery Department of Tokyo Medical University. The Head of the Center is Professor Norihiko Kawate who has been invited from the above department, and we also invited Professor Harubumi Kato as its Center's Advisor. Professor Kato is the first-ranking doctor in diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer in the world.

Treatment
All respiratory diseases and problems are treated at this Center. They include bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis, respiratory incompetency, pneumonia, lung cancer, mediastinal tumor, pleural tumor, spontaneous pneumothorax, etc. The Center can also cope with the above related examinations, such as bronchoscopy, lung cancer examination with Cr (5.5 mega helical) and various biopsies. For surgical operations, we actively introduce the thoracoscope for the purpose of reducing a patient's pain after operation and also for shortening the duration of his/her hospital stay.

Accomplishments
Respiratory Center, which is lead by Dr. Norihiko Kawate, performs more than 200 cases of operations every year. Center has actively developed new diagnosis and treatment technology. As for laser treatment, the department has included laser treatment for clinical applications, taking the initiative in the world, and thoracoscopic treatment was also introduced in this department, and its use was heralded in Japan. The results have been highly evaluated worldwide. Dr. Norihiko Kawate, the chief of Respiratory Center, was a practicing doctor at the First Surgery Department of Tokyo Medical University, a famous organization for treaty the largest number of the lungcancer cases in Japan.