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Functional Neurosurgery

Functional Neurosurgery Referrals

Main Telephone: 315 464-4470
Main Fax: 315-464-5520
Toll Free: 800 255-5011 

Required for referrals:

  • Recent office notes with diagnosis & reason for surgical consult
  • Recent imaging / scans from within the last 6 months

Harish Babu, MD, PhD
Tel. 315 492-3172
Fax: 315-464-5503

Satish Krishnamurthy, MD
Tel. 315 492-3125
Fax: 315-464-5501

Jonathan Miller, MD
Tel. 315 464-9294
Fax: 315 464-6504

Pediatric Functional Neurosurgery

Zulma Tovar-Spinoza, MD
Tel. 315 492-3114
Fax: 315-464-4415

Epilepsy Neurosurgery

Harish Babu, MD, PhD
Tel. 315 492-3172
Fax: 315-464-5503

 

 

Upstate's neurosurgeons treat movement disorders and intractable pain with procedures specifically aimed at altering the activity of the abnormal neural circuits. Medical intractable movement disorders, such as those associated with Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor and dystonia, are amenable to such modulation.

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) or small ablations deep within the brain: Our neurosurgeon will place active electrodes deep within the brain with precise targeting to ensure that the activity of the appropriate nerve cells is altered for optimal results. Stereotactic techniques and electrophysiological monitoring (usually with microelectrodes) are used to obtain the necessary degree of precision.

To manage severe medically-intractable spasticity, secondary to cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury, our neurosurgeons can implant pumps that deliver anti-spacticity medication intrathecally or directly around the spinal cord. Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy is an alternative therapy that is also offered for spacticity.

Conditions We Treat

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Attacking Pain

Intractable pain can be treated with procedures that alter the activity of the central nervous system. Stimulation of the dorsal spinal column, thalamus or motor cortex can modulate and control pain impulses. A neurosurgeon can implant intrathecal drug pumps that deliver medications directly to the pain-producing circuits. This is useful in a wide variety of painful conditions, including those seen in patients with severely degenerated spines.

Selective ablations can can also interrupt the painful impulses. Examples include dorsal spinal cord (DREZ) lesions for pain after plexus injuries, anterolateral cordotomy for cancer pain and trigeminal radiofrequency ganglioysis, microballoon compression or Gamma Knife radiosurgery for treatment of trigeminal neuralgia.

Seizure disorders patients whose disabling seizures fail to respond to medication may be candidates for surgical intervention. The patient is evaluated by a multidisciplinary team relying heavily on video EEG monitoring, high resolution MRI functional imaging, and, as needed, EEG recordings with implanted intracranial electrodes. These technologies can often locate the epileptogenic tissue that is not apparent on traditional CT scans or MRIs.

When pharmacological treatment of seizures is ineffective, certain surgical procedures are available including partial temporal lobotomy, resection of an epileptic focus or corpus callostomy. Multiple subpial transections can can also be performed safely in patients whose seizures arise from the eloquent cortex. When indicated, functional mapping of the eloquent cortex is carried out extraoperatively through subdural grids or introperatively under local anesthesia. Investigation into associative and sensimotor functions of the brain are also carried out during craniotomy.

Epilepsy Center

University Hospital's Epilepsy Center is also investigating new options such as cell transplantation to control seizure foci, as well as deep brain stimulation which places neural stimulators deep in the brain to prevent seizures.

Selecting the most appropriate treatment is a team decision and the patient and patient's family are critical members of this team.

Pacemaker For the Brain: The Vagal Nerve Stimulator

When seizures cannot be controlled by antiepilepsy drugs or the neurosurgical procedures described above, they can often be supressed by another type of nerve stimulator, the vagal nerve stimulator (VNS.) The VNS power source, which is the size of a stopwatch, is implanted in the neck. Electrical stimuli from the VNS are relayed through the vagus nerve in the neck. Electrical stimuli from the VNS are relayed through the vagus nerve in the brain, where these impulses appear to "reset" electrical activities in the brain areas where the seizures start. This can prevent seizures.

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