Paolo Miccoli

Expert

Ex-President of European Society of Endocrine Surgeons, Ex-President of the Italian Society of Endoscopic Surgery and New Techniques, Ex-President of the Italian Society of Maxillofacial Surgery, the President of the Endocrine Surgery, Vice-President of the Association of French-speaking Endocrine surgeons and Member dell’Accademie Nationale de chirugie of France. Director of the International Association of Endocrine Surgery.

Paolo Miccoli is the world acknowledged guru of miniinvasive surgery of the thyroid gland, an inventor of techniques and a leading specialist of the world in the field of videoassisting thyroidectomy (www.paolomiccoli.it).

Professor Paolo Miccoli is one of the founders of the European Society of Endocrine Surgeons and the first President of the Society.
He is an ex-President of the Italian Society of Endoscopic Surgery and New Techniques.
He is an ex-President of the Italian Society of Maxillofacial Surgery.
He is an Honorary President of the Club of Endocrine Surgery.
He has been Vice-President of the Association of French-speaking Endocrine Surgeons and Member of the National Academy of Surgery ( dell’ Accademie Nationale de chirugie) of France since 2000.
He is a Director of the International Association of Endocrine Surgery.
He is a Honorary Professor of several Universities of the U.S.A., including Brown University, University of Georgia, and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Paolo Miccoli was born on June 7, 1947 in Leghorn; in 1972 he graduated a medical school of Pisa University with Honour, after that he promoted his qualification at Medical Sant’ Anna College. There he defended his dissertation to stand for doctorate in the field of general surgery. Starting from 1975 he was an assistant professor of the department of general surgery; in 1983 he gained in competition the post of an assistant professor at the department of pediatric surgery at Pisa University.
Starting from 1987 he is a professor of surgical anatomy and general surgery at Pisa University. In 2002 he became a director of the department of surgery of the Faculty of medicine and surgery of Pisa University. In 2004 he became a director of the department of complex measures of general surgery of Pisa Univesity Hospital.
Pisa University is one of the oldest Universities in Europe. Its History started in the XI –th century when it was a scientific school at that time. It got the statut of the University in 1343. Within more than 500 years due to the attempts of the ducal Medici family Pisa University prospered: botanic garden, the oldest in Europe, was founded, the observatory was built up, the richest library was collected, the number of departments was increased (including mathematics, natural sciences, chemistry-these mentioned-above subjects were absent at other Universities). One of the most famous students of this University was Galileo Galilei.
Nowadays Pisa University is one of the biggest in Italy, in addition to educational work, it includes big scientific research centres. Professor Paolo Miccoli has perfect habits of surgical treatment of diseases of the neck area: endocrine surgery, otorhinolaryngology, oncology. Professor Paolo Miccoli is the author of more than 600 publications on different branches of surgery, especially on surgical treatment of endocrine diseases.
He is an author and co-author and scientific editor of numerous monographs, related to the surgical treatment of the most wide-spread endocrine diseases.
In 2003 Professor Paolo Miccolo was awarded by Rugeri Grand-Prix; it is the highest award of the Italian Society of Surgeons for the series of scientific articles on miniinvasive surgery of parathyroid glands and for using videoendoscopy in the surgical treatment of hyperparathyroidosis for the first time in the world.
Professor Paolo Miccoli elaborated the technique of miniinvasive video-assisted thyroidectomy; they start becoming the “gold standard” for surgery of thyroid glands – MIVAT.
The department of the general surgery of Pisa University Hospital, where Professor Paolo Miccoli is the Head, is the world centre of experimental surgery of the thyroid glands. Annualy they operate about 3,000 patients for thyroid glands.
Professor Paolo Miccoli is one of the pioneers in the field of endoscopic surgery of endocrine organs of the neck. For the first time endoscopic parathyroidectomy was performed by him alongside with Michel Gagner in 1992. They used gas insufflation for cavity formation in the neck. The next step of his activity was elaboration of the technique of performing operations for goiter and nodes of the thyroid gland, using minimally-performed incisions-up to 2-3 cm, performing video-assisted operations - the way it was done when performing laparoscopy. Mini-incisions, performed minding Professor Miccoli’s technique, give a possibility to perform the subtotal removal of the thyroid gland, to remove single big nodes, having the diameter up to 7 cm.
Within the last 20 years Professor Miccoli has managed to make the technique of operations perfect-both for thyroid and parathyroid glands, he has managed to form a new group of endocrine surgeons, as well as absolutely new scientific school, practicing new innovational approaches in treatrment of endocrine diseases as compared to his previous colleagues, who have used traditional ways and approaches.
Starting from 1998, Professor Miccoli elaborated and actively introduced into clinical practice “MIVAT” technique (Minimally Invasive Video-Assisted Thyroidectomy). This method as compared to the classical surgery of thyroid gland - Kocher’s incision- gives a possibility to obtain absolutely another esthetic result and to reduce minimally by-side effects.
Later Professor Miccoli elaborated “MIVAP” technique ( Minimally Invasive Video-Assisted Parathyroidectomy). Due to Professor Miccoli this technique has become de facto the standard for the surgical treatment of the primary hyperparathyroidosis in Italy.
Besides, specialists of the scientific school, founded by Professor Miccoli, actively use the technique of robotic surgery on Da Vinci apparatus, that has been elaborated in the U.S.A. They use it for miniinvasive thyroidectomy. The technique of this operation with the axillary access has been elaborated in South Korea. The first specialist who has performed this operation on outside of South Korea is Professor Miccoli. This operation has become the further evolution of the techniques of the surgical treatment of the diseases of thyroid gland –it is making the cosmetic effect perfect, as in case of transaxillary access the scars after operation on the neck are absent. This technique does not require CO2 insufflation. Only via 1 incision in the axillary area, having the size 5 cm, it is possible to perform on thyroidectomy and remove nodes up to 5-7 cm in diameter. The use of robotic system “Da Vinci” is suitable for this kind of operation, it’s complex and delicate, as gives a possibility to perform all movements with absolute exactness.