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Neurosurgery

Featured Researcher – Eric Sribnick
 Featured Researcher – Eric Sribnick 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

When children experience a traumatic brain injury (TBI) as well as significant injuries elsewhere in the body—such as a liver or spleen laceration or a broken bone—they face a substantially increased risk of subsequent infection. Research suggests this may stem from a sort of shock to the immune system leading to immunoparalysis, which leaves children…

Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy for Cerebral Palsy: Significant Gains in Mobility and Reduction in Spasticity Treatments
 Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy for Cerebral Palsy: Significant Gains in Mobility and Reduction in Spasticity Treatments 928 1024 Erin Gregory
By: Erin Gregory

Recent research shows that selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) significantly boosts motor function in children with cerebral palsy (CP), particularly those who are ambulatory. The study highlights motor improvements and a reduced need for spasticity treatments, emphasizing SDR’s potential to enhance outcomes and quality of life for children with CP. Key Findings: Improvements in Motor Function…

4 Questions With Jeffrey Leonard, MD
 4 Questions With Jeffrey Leonard, MD 1024 683 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Jeffrey Leonard, MD, is chief of Neurosurgery and the Robert F. & Edgar T. Wolfe Foundation Endowed Chair in Neurosurgery at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. He is also a principal investigator in the Center for Childhood Cancer Research in the Abigail Wexner Research Institute and a professor of Neurological Surgery at The Ohio State University College…

Accelerating Advances in Epilepsy Surgery
 Accelerating Advances in Epilepsy Surgery 1024 683 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

One program is bringing together clinical care, surgery and research to create a brighter future for children with intractable epilepsy. Childhood-onset epilepsy affects 1% of children worldwide. Up to a third of patients with epilepsy will have medically refractory epilepsy, continuing to have seizures despite using two or more antiseizure medications. Options for this group…

Outcomes After Surgical Interventions for Abusive Head Trauma
 Outcomes After Surgical Interventions for Abusive Head Trauma 1024 683 Mary Bates, PhD
By: Mary Bates, PhD

Study suggests that most children can make clinically meaningful recoveries after neurosurgical intervention. Abusive head trauma (AHT) is a leading cause of injury and death in children under 5 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), yet the scientific literature on neurosurgical intervention for this population is mixed. Given the range…

Novel Cause of Brain Mosaicism and Focal Epilepsy Identified
 Novel Cause of Brain Mosaicism and Focal Epilepsy Identified 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

In Nature Genetics, researchers report a novel mechanism for the origin of brain chromosomal mosaicism and link brain mosaic chromosome 1q gain to a distinct clinical phenotype.   In most people, every cell in their body contains the same genetic information. However, sometimes people can have two or more genetically different sets of cells. This…

Does Etiology Impact Outcomes After Hemispherectomy?
 Does Etiology Impact Outcomes After Hemispherectomy? 1024 575 Jessica Nye, PhD
By: Jessica Nye, PhD

Patients with cerebral palsy (CP) who have comorbid medically intractable epilepsy (MIE) had similar quantitative functional and seizure outcomes following functional hemispherotomy (FH) or anatomic hemispherectomy (AH), regardless of vascular or dysplastic MIE etiologies.   Early onset seizures are a common comorbidity in CP, affecting between 30% and 50% of patients. Among the patients with…

Featured Researcher — Tracy Bedrosian, PhD
 Featured Researcher — Tracy Bedrosian, PhD 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Tracy Bedrosian, PhD, is a principal investigator in the Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine and a specialist in brain mosaicism and neurodevelopment working to uncover the impact that localized mutations in brain cells have on epilepsy symptoms, autism and other neurodevelopmental diseases. She collaborates with neurologists and other experts in the Steve…

Epilepsy Surgery Underutilized in Young Patients With Drug-Resistant Epilepsy
 Epilepsy Surgery Underutilized in Young Patients With Drug-Resistant Epilepsy 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
Color close up image of young baby girl looking at hanging toys

Research suggests that early surgical intervention can boost developmental outcomes and even cure young children with intractable epilepsy, but low referral rates and other barriers result in limited access for some. Early surgery for drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) can improve quality of life by reducing or even eliminating seizures. DRE affects about one in every three…

Optimized Neurophysiologic Intraoperative Monitoring Provides Real-Time Clinical and Diagnostic Benefits in Patients With Polyneuropathy
 Optimized Neurophysiologic Intraoperative Monitoring Provides Real-Time Clinical and Diagnostic Benefits in Patients With Polyneuropathy 1024 683 JoAnna Pendergrass, DVM
By: JoAnna Pendergrass, DVM

New study reports that optimizing NIOM parameters can provide actionable, real-time data to protect the nervous system during surgery and facilitate diagnosis of previously unrecognized polyneuropathies. Neurophysiologic intraoperative monitoring (NIOM) provides a multimodal approach to evaluating the nervous system’s functional integrity. Components of NIOM include sensory evoked potentials (SEP), which monitor the dorsal column sensory…

Brain Characteristics Associated with Epilepsy and Internalizing Disorders
 Brain Characteristics Associated with Epilepsy and Internalizing Disorders 1024 575 Mary Bates, PhD
By: Mary Bates, PhD

Diffuse alterations in brain structure and function are seen in youth with epilepsy and symptoms of anxiety or depression. Internalizing disorders, such as depression and anxiety, are common in patients with epilepsy. Specific brain characteristics – structural changes in the hippocampus and amygdala as well as some differences in structure and function of more frontal…

Neurosurgery May Provide Lasting Relief From Spasticity
 Neurosurgery May Provide Lasting Relief From Spasticity 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Selective dorsal rhizotomy can provide life-changing results, but patients work hard in physical and occupational therapy to get there. When Sushma Manjunatha watches her daughter sleep, she sees something new. Instead of being tightly curled up, with legs pulled in, her daughter’s legs are stretched out, finally relaxed. This change is the result of a…

In Sight: Two Stage Surgery for Epilepsy
 In Sight: Two Stage Surgery for Epilepsy 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Surgery proves to be a viable option for patients with medically refractory epilepsy. Childhood onset epilepsy affects 1 percent of children worldwide. About 25 to 30 percent of these patients will have medically refractory epilepsy, continuing to have seizures despite using two or more antiseizure medications. Options for this group of patients include intercranial epilepsy surgery, Vagus…

Minimally-Invasive Technology Proving Itself in Epilepsy Procedures
 Minimally-Invasive Technology Proving Itself in Epilepsy Procedures 150 150 Kevin Mayhood
By: Kevin Mayhood

MRI-guided stereotactic laser ablation may become the option of choice for appropriate patients. MRI-guided stereotactic laser ablation is proving comparable to open surgery in several procedures aimed at controlling epilepsy, researchers report. Importantly, patients’ recovery is considerably easier and shorter than recuperation from traditional surgeries, and while thorough studies are needed, early results indicate fewer…

Planning, Teamwork and Technology Essential to Conjoined Twins’ Separation
 Planning, Teamwork and Technology Essential to Conjoined Twins’ Separation 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

In a meticulously planned 16-hour operation, a 30-person team from four specialties successfully separated 11-month-old twins conjoined at the buttocks and lower spine. Specialists from General Pediatric Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Neurosurgery and Colorectal Surgery worked together to plan and execute a successful separation of conjoined twin girls, Acen and Apio, earlier this month. “In surgery,…