Neurosurgery Blog
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Solving Brain Bleeds in the Elderly
When former president Jimmy Carter was hospitalized this week to treat pressure on his brain from bleeding, it brought to light a common condition that holds a special danger for the elderly. It also brings up the topic of minimally invasive surgical approaches, and why our aging population in particular can benefit from them.
Pulsatile Tinnitus: Don’t Just “Live With It”
The symptoms of pulsatile tinnitus should always be evaluated, since a diagnostic workup can either find or rule out potentially life-threatening conditions, and because we may find a cause – such as venous sinus stenosis – that is treatable.
7 Ways to Reduce the Risk of Alzheimer's
256 Ways to Be Depressed (and Finding a Path Out of It)
Clinical depression is profound and life-altering, and it often requires medical treatment. It’s a complicated condition, but science has agreed that there are nine signs of clinical depression, and a patient only needs five of them in order to be diagnosed.
Heroes in the Aisle
I had only ever used CPR once before when I was recently called into action — of all places, on an airplane flight.
Spinal Endoscopy Offers New Options
I’ve dedicated my neurosurgical career to finding newer and less invasive surgical techniques for relieving back pain. Advances in minimally invasive spine surgery have been truly extraordinary over the past 20 years or so, and I’ve been gratified to be at the forefront of the movement. Getting my patients back to work, back to their families and their hobbies, free of pain, is enormously rewarding.
Paul Greengard, 1925-2019: An Appreciation
The entire faculty and staff of the Weill Cornell Medicine Brain and Spine Center mourn the passing of Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Paul Greengard, PhD, who died Saturday at age 93. Dr. Greengard was Vincent Astor Professor and head of the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience at Rockefeller University as well as the director of the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research.
Behind the Scenes at the Concussion Service
When a patient at the Weill Cornell Medicine Brain and Spine Center or Concussion Clinic meets me, it usually means they need testing or consultation about a brain injury. I specialize in neuropsychological testing – not only for patients here but also for professional and amateur athletes (including student athletes). What patients don’t realize is how much goes on behind the scenes at an academic medical center like this one, where faculty members do a lot more than test and treat.
Successful Stenting
It was six years ago that we treated our first patient using venous sinus stenting – an innovative procedure that widens a narrowed vein inside the brain. She was a delightful young woman who had been diagnosed with pseudotumor cerebri and was losing vision due to high intracranial pressure. After the venous sinus stenting, the patient recovered her vision completely and all the other symptoms of increased intracranial pressure were also resolved. She has been doing very well ever since.
How It Feels to Make Progress Against DIPG
How do you feel? I can’t tell you how many people have asked me that recently, now that we have published the culmination of years and years of work. Embodied in the results of my Phase I clinical trial are multiple grants, kind donations, unending lab projects, thousands of emails, meeting presentations, many sleepless nights, and so much time away from my own family and two young boys. I’m not sure how to answer: I’m equal parts overjoyed, proud, exhausted – and overwhelmed by the thought my quest is not finished.
