Dr. Solomon (left) with Dr. Parsa

Department Chair Dr. Robert Solomon had the pleasure of congratulating a former Columbia Resident on his new Chairmanship, a job that Dr. Solomon had recommended he go for.

Andrew T. Parsa, MD, PhD, completed his neurosurgical residency here at Columbia in 2002 and he was just hired as the Michael J. Marchese Professor and chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. His new job begins July 1, 2013.

Dr. Parsa has collaborated with Columbia’s Department of Neurosurgery in the years since his graduation. Most notably with Dr. Jeffrey Bruce and the Bartoli Brain Tumor Research Laboratory.

You can learn more about Columbia’s collaboration with Dr. Parsa in our previous blogs:

• Dr. Jeffrey Bruce’s Brain Tumor Update In Its 9th Year At 2012 CNS Meeting
• Bruce Edits Latest Issue Of Neurosurgery Clinics Of North America
• Brain Tumor Vaccine Featured On Hollywood Telecast
• Could There Soon Be A Vaccine Against Brain Cancer?

Congratulations Dr. Parsa!

Dr. Guy McKhann, Florence Irving Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery and member of the Brain Tumor Center, Epilepsy Center & Movement Disorders Center, participated in the 81st Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) in New Orleans recently.

Dr. McKhann was Co-Director of a Practical Clinic on Brain Mapping And Awake Mapping Techniques.  This course gave an in-depth review of techniques and technologies used to identify crucial areas of the brain during brain surgery (for tumors and epilepsy) to allow for the safest and best outcome.

Dr. McKhann was Moderator at a Breakfast Seminar on Contemporary Management For Adult Hydrocephalus. This seminar covered current management and controversies in the evaluation and treatment of adult (normal pressure) hydrocephalus .

Dr. McKhann was also co-author of two papers presented at the meeting:

One was titled, African-Americans with Parkinson’s Disease Receive Disproportionately Fewer Deep Brain Stimulators (DBS) Regardless of Access to Neurological Surgeons, and was co-authored by Columbia neurosurgery resident Robert McGovern, MD;

The other was titled, Resting State Functional Connectivity Analysis Can Distinguish Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH) from Parkinson’s Disease (PD), and was co-authored by Columbia neurosurgery residents Robert McGovern, MD and Chuck Mikell, MD.

Related blog: Columbia Neurosurgeons Speaking at 2013 AANS Meeting in New Orleans

Dr. Winfree arrived in New Orleans a day early to attend the Pre-Conference Biennial Meeting of the AANS/CNS Joint Section on Pain, for which he has been Chair these last two years.

The full-day Section Meeting and Scientific Program focused on the neurosurgical treatment of facial pain and included presentations by the top leaders in the neurosurgical pain subspecialty.

The larger Annual AANS Meeting began the following day April 27, 2013 and Dr. Winfree was the first of the Columbia Neurosurgery group to present. He Directed a Practical Course on Neurostimulation for Residents. During this course, neurosurgical residents were given detailed instruction in both the theory and hands-on application of a variety of neurostimulation techniques.

Over the next couple of days Dr. Winfree was able to attend a few lectures and seminars himself and to take part in several peer-led meetings. These included; the Peripheral Nerve Surgery Task Force Leadership dinner meeting, the CNS Board of Directors meeting, and the Joint Guidelines Committee meeting.

He was back to a full day of teaching on Tuesday, April 30th starting as a panelist at a seminar on the Neurosurgical Management of Intractable Pain. He and others reviewed indications, techniques and outcomes of contemporary neurosurgical procedures.

The same day, the Joint Pain Section Break-out Session was held and Dr. Winfree moderated a lively afternoon of presentations and one of the new neurosurgical subspecialty Face-Offs, introduced to the AANS meeting this year.

The Face-Off was between two leading Pain experts: Kim J Burchiel, MD, who argued for the surgical management of trigeminal neuralgia; and Douglas Kondziolka, MD, who gave the counterpoint view of management with radiosurgery.

Dr. Winfree was co-author of research also presented, titled Survey of The Current State of Neurosurgical Chronic Pain Care and Education, and he led aCase Discussions segment and Q & A that concluded the Joint Section meeting.

To learn more about this conference, read our previous blog: Columbia Neurosurgeons Speaking at 2013 AANS Meeting in New Orleans.

Dr. Peter Angevine from the Spine Center was among the neurosurgeons from Columbia’s Department of Neurosurgery in New Orleans last month to present at the 81st Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS).

He was Co-Director of a Hands-On Course for Neurosurgeons titled, Techniques for Adult Spinal Deformity Surgery. Here students were instructed on the evaluation and treatment planning for common spinal deformities in adults such as degenerative lumbar scoliosis and thoracic kyphosis. The hands-on portion of the program included specific techniques for positioning, rod and screw placement.

Dr. Angevine was also a Panelist at three symposia during the meeting.

The first was on the Principles and Techniques of Deformity Correction in Adolescents and Young Adults. See him in the photo at right with course Moderator, David W. Pincus, MD, PhD,  Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the University of Florida and graduate of Columbia’s Neurosurgical Residency Program.

The second symposium was on the Management of Adult Scoliosis where special emphasis was placed on the association of spinal deformities with conditions commonly treated by neurosurgeons.

Finally, Dr. Angevine was Panelist at a Dinner Symposium on Biologics and Spine Fusion, where specialists presented cases for audience discussion on current techniques, outcomes and complications.

Related Blog:  Columbia Neurosurgeons Speaking at 2013 AANS Meeting in New Orleans

He was a Panelist at a Breakfast Seminar on Controversies in The Management of Intracerebral Hematomas. Here, he and others spoke about current treatment options and ongoing clinical trials.

Dr. Connolly also attended the AANS/CNS Cerebrovascular Section Session where he spoke about Tracking our Patient Outcomes—The N2QOD And Its Value to Cerebrovascular Surgery. The National Neurosurgery Quality and Outcomes Database (N2QOD) is used to track quality of surgical care for the most common neurosurgical procedures.

See our related blog: Columbia Neurosurgeons Speaking at 2013 AANS Meeting in New Orleans

Fashion designer Valentina Kova (second from left) and her team with nurses Nancy (far left) and Cucky (far right).

Valentina Kova is a New York based Fashion and Jewelry Designer. She is also a patient of Dr. Robert Solomon, a Columbia University Medical Center neurosurgeon who specializes in the treatment of brain aneurysms.

Not long ago, Valentina’s mother suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm. After doctors told her this could be hereditary, Valentina had a scan that revealed a seven millimeter (life-threatening) aneurysm in her own brain.

Models in the OR wearing           Valentina’s Designs.

Valentina counts herself lucky to have found out about the aneurysm before it ruptured and to then find Dr. Solomon. Dr. Solomon has operated on more cerebral (brain) aneurysms than any surgeon in the tri-state area. He specializes in the identification and definitive treatment of cerebral aneurysms before rupture and before the onset of devastating neurological problems.

Dr. Solomon performed surgery on Valentina at Columbia University Medical Center/New York Presbyterian Hospital (CUMC/NYP) without incident. After a quick recovery she returned to designing jewelry and soon expanded her collection to include a line of clothing.

Valentina just launched her Fall/Winter 2013-2014 collection at Fashion Week here in New York City. As is common among top-tier designers, Valentina created a fashion film for the show. She was inspired by her incredible experience with Dr. Solomon at CUMC/NYP and set the film in an operating room; one used by Dr. Solomon at Valley Hospital, in Ridgewood, New Jersey (see photos top and right).

You can watch this behind the scenes video about the launching of Valentina Kova Fall/Winter 2013-2014 collection here.

To see Valentina today, she seems completely unscathed by the aneurysm or the brain surgery to treat it (see her video testimonial on Dr. Solomon’s webpage). To learn more about Valentina’s designs visit her website here.

We’d like to extend a special Thank You to Valley Hospital staff for letting Valentina shoot her video in one of their operating rooms, and to Valley Hospital nurses, Nancy and Cucky, for being so kind and helpful throughout the video shoot.

Meet Valentina, Dr. Solomon’s patient

Castle Connolly has released their 2013 Top Doctor guidebooks and Dr. Steven Isaacson has once again been named one of America’s Top Doctors for Radiation Oncology.

You can find him listed in three of their 2013 guides for his specialization in Brain Tumors, Gliomas, Neuro-Oncology, and Stereotactic Radiosurgery.

The first guide, America’s Top Doctors, is in its twelfth year and Dr. Isaacson has appeared in all editions of this guide.

He has been listed in Top Doctors: New York Metro Area for the last twelve years as well. 

Dr. Isaacson is also in their guide, America’s Top Doctors for Cancer, which  is in its eighth edition. He has been in all eight of these editions as well.

Check out Dr. Isaacson’s Castle Connolly profile page to see his many listings.

Congratulations Dr. Isaacson!

Dr. Dorothea Altschul recently spoke to more than 500 healthcare professionals at The New Jersey State Stroke Conference. The conference was held in Princeton, New Jersey last month and was jointly sponsored by American Heart Association and American Stroke Association.

“This was an excellent conference to educate healthcare professionals on current research findings and clinical standards for stroke management and treatment,” says Dr. Altschul.

“It gave the opportunity for discussion and collaboration regarding stroke care initiatives and for building stronger stroke systems of care. People discussed the latest treatment options and evidence-based guidelines for stroke treatment.”

Dr. Altschul’s talk was on critical care management of acute ischemic patients. Those are patients in the early stages of suffering from a stroke caused by a blood clot. 

An expert in the treatment of the very sickest patients, those requiring critical care, Dr. Altschul is often asked to speak to her fellow physicians and nurses on the subject. She gave a talk on the Critical Care Management of patients with subarachnoid hemmorhage earlier this year at Valley Hospital’s Neurocritical Care Symposium. 

Electronic Technology in Clinical Practice Lecture Screen Cast

On Sunday, April 29th, Dr. Richard Anderson and Dr. Neil Feldstein from the Pediatric Neurosurgery Center directed a unique practical clinic at the 2013 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS).  

Dr. Richard Anderson

The course, Incorporation Of Electronic Technology To Improve Clinical Practice, involved a multi-media screen cast with faculty from local and remote locations including Columbia neurosurgical resident Christopher P. Kellner, MD (fourth from the left in screen shot above).

Dr. Neil Feldstein

The directors and faculty demonstrated a variety of technologies used in current practice and innovations for the future. The course was received with great interest.