Dr. Varun Arya Receives 2015 AAOMS Resident Research Award
Third year resident in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Dr. Varun Arya, received the 2015 Resident Research Award from the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) for his manuscript, “TMJ condylar osteochondroma: Low condylectomy and joint preservation vs. Complete condylectomy and Joint resection.” Dr. Arya was mentored in this work by Dr. Pushkar Mehra, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
This prestigious national award is given annually to just two residents by the AAOMS, a non-profit professional association comprised of over 9,000 surgeons from across the US dedicated to the advancement of oral and maxillofacial surgery. Dr. Arya was recognized for his outstanding research on Condylar Osteochondroma, which is a very rare tumor formation which can develop in the mandible. As part of winning the award, Dr. Arya’s manuscript will be published in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. He will also present his manuscript and be formally recognized at the annual meeting of American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons in October 2015 in Washington D.C.
Dr. Arya’s mentor, Dr. Mehra, has treated 21 patients with this rare kind of tumor. The standard treatment method for the condition is the complete removal of the temporomandibular joint followed by its reconstruction with an artificial joint prosthesis. While this treatment method has been tested over time, Dr. Mehra has been exploring a new treatment option in which the joint is preserved without requiring the sacrifice of the temporomandibular joint or reconstruction. Dr. Mehra has successfully treated eight out of these 21 patients with this novel procedure.
In his paper, Dr. Arya compared the two techniques and evaluated the outcome of the newer procedure. He found that both complete and low condylectomy are viable options for the surgical management of osteochondromas of the mandibular condyle. Low condylectomy, when indicated, permits effective removal of the tumor and has the advantage of eliminating the need for autogenous or alloplastic joint reconstruction. In patients where complete resection is necessary due to extent of the tumor and TMJ reconstruction is required, artificial joint prosthesis provides similar clinical outcomes as compared to autogenous reconstruction, and has the advantages of eliminating donor site morbidity and decreasing operating time.
“I feel very blessed to have received this national award,” Dr. Arya said. “I dedicate this award to Dr. Mehra, who has been so supportive of my work and has been a great mentor. I am hoping that this research will help surgeon’s make better treatment decisions and stimulate more minds to further investigate management of this rare condylar tumor.”
Dr. Mehra and Dr. Arya hope that this study will prompt more surgeons to consider newer treatments when making clinical decisions and will encourage investigators to conduct new prospective studies to better understand this rare condylar tumor.
Dr. Arya also presented this work at the annual meeting of the American Society of Temporo-Mandibular Joint Surgeons held earlier this year where he was awarded best abstract and received a scholarship.
“Congratulations to Dr. Arya on winning this prestigious award,” said Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter. “He is certainly deserving of this recognition for his dedication to the study of oral and maxillofacial surgery.”