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Ear expert releases free surgical videos
Already, teaching-university leaders from around the world are praising the value of Dr. Lippy’s e-videos series .
WARREN — An innovative e- library on stapedectomy surgery, developed by Warren otologist Dr. William H. Lippy, one of the world’s foremost surgeons in the field of hearing restoration, is available free of charge online.
Dr. Lippy, founder of the Lippy Group for Ear, Nose & Throat in Warren, is an internationally recognized expert in stapedectomy surgery for treatment of deafness. He is only one of a handful of surgeons in the world who has performed thousands of stapedectomies, a surgery replacing one of the three tiny bones in the middle ear — the stapes bone — with a prosthesis to restore hearing.
“The opportunity to create this video series, which really is the culmination of my life’s work, and provide it to the world via the Web and video is something very special to me,” Dr. Lippy said. “It took zus almost one year to complete the work. However, we hope the impact lasts a lifetime.”
Dr. Lippy’s nonprofit organization, the Warren Hearing Foundation, this week posted 24 separate videos providing education, insights and surgical examples of the surgery from Dr. Lippy and Dr. Leonard Berenholz.
To view the videos and for additional information on Dr. Lippy, his practice and partners, visit www.TheLippyLibrary.com.
“I think the response will be tremendous. The videos are usable by every teaching university in the world and anyone in practice who is having a problems with diagnosis or how to handle the problem surgically,” Dr. Lippy said.
“Just think of all the reading doctors have to do, and how much easier it will be for them to sit down and learn about stapedectomies on their computer. It is a tremendous learning device,” he said.
“I’m very happy with the results. Already, several department heads in teaching universities in the United States and from around the world have called to congratulate me on the idea and to say that it is a great teaching tool,” Dr. Lippy said.
Dr. Lippy said he plans to continue to add to the e-library, particularly with more videos of the surgery itself.
Over his 50-year career, Dr. Lippy created “The Lippy Stapes Prosthesis,” and many instruments used in stapedectomy surgery, and has published some 60 peer-review papers and a dozen book chapters. Dr. Lippy also teaches and performs ear surgery abroad and was past president of the Otosclerosis Study Group.
The e-video library was produced by DKW Multimedia in Columbus. Dr. Lippy’s son, David W., is executive producer of the project.
“My father has spent years helping others and this is another example of Dad doing everything he can to make the world a better and more educated place. The videos will create a legacy for my father, and all the work he has done throughout the years will be passed from generation to generation,” he said.
Dr. Lippy, a graduate of Niles McKinley High School and the Ohio State University School of Medicine, has performed 17,000 stapedectomies, including 2,000 revisions, or fixes, of the surgery that correct otosclerosis, a progressive disease caused by a problem with the third little bone in the ear, called the stapes or stirrup bone. The operation, done under local anesthesia through an operating microscope under high magnification, removes the stapes bone and replaces it with a tissue graft and a titanium prosthesis.
Dr. Lippy, an Air Force veteran, is a member of Beth Israel Temple Center in Warren and Congregation Rodef Sholom in Youngstown. He and his wife, Sandra, have four children, David, Stephen, Frank and Brian.
alcorn@vindy.com