Columbia Neurosurgery Leads at 85th Annual American Academy of Neurological Surgery’s Annual Meeting at Sea Island

Earlier this month, Dr. Sander Connolly, Dr. Dean Chou, Dr. Sean Lavine and Dr. Don Quest attended The American Academy of Neurological Surgery’s 85th Annual Meeting in Sea Island, Georgia. Our department’s Chair, E. Sander Connolly, is a member of its executive committee and has transitioned from his role of Secretary to 2023’s President-Elect. Dr. Connolly of the event says, “This society continues to serve as the premier research organization in North America focused on promoting, sponsoring and mentoring laboratory, translational, and clinical research in the neurological sciences.” Dr. Connolly also moderated Peer Reviewed Abstract Session I: Cerebrovascular Basic Science. 

This year’s learning objectives included some of the hottest topics in neurosurgery, including implications of artificial intelligence (AI) in the development of neurosurgical technology and publications, new insights on surgical and anatomical knowledge that will impact the future of brain mapping and surgery for brain tumors, identifying opportunities for enhancing diversity and scientific exploration through the proper leveraging of social media and Defining the impact of novel neuroscience performed by neurosurgeons which leverages the unique access to the central nervous system.

Later in the week, Dr. Dean Chou presented on “Lumbar Spondylolisthesis Outcomes in the Elderly: Machine Learning Analysis of the Quality Outcomes Database.” Dr. Chou’s award-winning research concluded, “For elderly patients undergoing surgery for degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis, the addition of fusion was associated with superior outcomes, with patients receiving a fusion having nearly 1.5 times the odds of reaching an optimal outcome. There was no evidence that age significantly differed between clusters failing to support an age cutoff for surgery.”

The team is thankful to share their knowledge with colleagues worldwide as we proudly continue to lead at the forefront of research in Neurosurgery. We look forward to next year when Dr. Connolly will transition to President of the American Academy of Neurological Surgery for 2024.