June 3, 2010
Banding Together
Clinicians take a multi-disciplinary
approach to fighting obesity
By Frank Fraiser
A lot can change at high altitudes. For David G. Davtyan, MD, FACS,
FICS, the thin air at the 2001 Minimally Invasive Surgery Symposium
(MISS) in Snowbird, Utah, caused him to become short of breath. He
called his wife and gasped, “My fat is taking over my lungs!”
Davtyan had gradually reached a size that was causing him to tire
easily, but because he was successful in his career and personal life,
he wasn’t ashamed of his weight. It wasn’t until he attended an MISS
presentation given by Guy-Bernard Cadiere, MD, PhD, on laparoscopic
adjustable gastric banding that Davtyan considered undergoing the
procedure.