CNS Blog
The Magic of Great Teamwork – A New Lease on Life
Today I think we felt like an experienced and focussed team of 14 people working all day to reconstruct one man’s spine from in “front” (anterior) and “behind” (posterior). I truly believe what we did and how we did it is worldclass, with a focus on patient safety and clinical outcome. This active but progressively […]
Read More“Hybrid” anterior cervical and lumbar reconstructions – spinal resculpting, stability & mobility
Minimally invasive “hybrid” cervical and lumbar reconstructions can be accomplished using a combination of one or more mobile artificial discs (total disc replacement/TDR) and sleek cages (anterior interbody fusion). These can be done through small incisions in the neck and abdomen. By 3 months post-operatively, my “hybrid” patients quite uniformly report substantially improved symptoms and […]
Read MoreSingle-level anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) – Range of motion
I often get asked about what the range of lumbar motion is going to be like after a single-level anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF). I say it should be good, based on the experience of my ALIF patients. This patient of mine had an L5/S1 ALIF through a small “bikini-line” lower anterior abdominal incision using […]
Read MoreCase of the “spare heart” tumour
Case of the “spare heart” tumour. Teamwork carries the day. Sometimes, neurosurgeons end up in unexpected circumstances! This lady presented with a large mass (boxes 1 & 2, red circle, in the collage below) behind her left lung and abutting her aorta and spine (box 1, yellow circle). The interventional radiologist put spinal markers in […]
Read More