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Peter Mattei, MD, FACS, FAAP

Attending Physician, Division of General, Thoracic and Fetal Surgery

Associate Professor of Surgery, The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

I am an attending physician in the Division of General, Thoracic and Fetal Surgery at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and assistant professor of surgery at The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. As the primary surgical liaison for pediatric surgical oncology, I am a member of CHOP’s Tumor Board and participate in clinical decision-making discussions for many children with pediatric solid tumors being treated or evaluated for a second opinion at CHOP. I have developed special expertise in the surgical treatment of neuroblastoma, Wilms’ tumor, hepatoblastoma, and abdominal and thoracic sarcomas, among other pediatric solid tumors.

One of the things I’m most proud of at CHOP is the partnership between surgeons, oncologists and other specialists through all stages of a child’s cancer treatment. Having a multidisciplinary team of experts in every specialty, working together to develop a complete care plan that takes into consideration all aspects of a child’s treatment and recovery, allows us to best serve the individual patient and ultimately produces better outcomes.

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has long been a pioneer in pediatric surgery and that continues today. We are at the forefront of many of the newest protocols, including the very exciting field of robotic surgery. I have a particular interest in daVinci robotic-assisted laparoscopy and thoracoscopy, which are minimally invasive and enable unprecedented surgical precision.

In the next decade or so, I envision robot-assisted surgery having huge implications for the extraction of tumors. For example, I foresee a day when we might be able to inject a substance into a patient with cancer that allows us to visualize the tumor — possibly with a display that shows color and makes the tumor stand out from the surrounding normal tissue — then, using this 3D visualization and the superior dexterity the robot allows, being able to actually extract the tumor while preserving normal structures.

Paralleling my excitement about the coming of new technologies and techniques is my commitment to helping kids get better. What gratifies me about this work continues to be the children I treat. They are simply amazing and inspirational — and they get it. They know they have something very serious going on, yet they have this sort of inner calm and appreciation for everything you do for them.

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