Archive for neurosurgery
Another shot for Conner: Getting back in the game after brain surgery
Watch Conner Hicks coach basketball at Midlakes Middle School in Clifton Springs, New York, and you’ll see a young man with a passion for the game. Talk to the players on his team and you’ll hear about a dedicated and enthusiastic role model. What you probably won’t notice is the 19-year-old’s fight with a brain ... Read More about Another shot for Conner: Getting back in the game after brain surgery
Groundbreaking research identifies noninvasive biomarker for moyamoya in children
Moyamoya is a rare blood vessel condition that has an outsized impact on children, as it is responsible for about 6 percent of pediatric strokes in the United States. Surgical revascularization is the only treatment and is very effective. However, clinicians face challenges in identifying new or worsening disease before a disabling stroke occurs, predicting ... Read More about Groundbreaking research identifies noninvasive biomarker for moyamoya in children
Pinpointing Karlijn’s seizures: Neurosurgery helps teen get back to her life
Karlijn Kuiper was visiting her home country of the Netherlands a few years ago when the trouble began. At first, her family noticed she would zone out. “She had these strange spells where she would just stare,” remembers her mother, Marieke. At first, it didn’t occur to Karlijn’s family that they could be seizures. Like ... Read More about Pinpointing Karlijn’s seizures: Neurosurgery helps teen get back to her life
Freak accident leads to Dylan’s passion for neurosurgery
It was the summer of 2019. Dylan Keusch had just graduated from prep school and was planning to major in Industrial Labor Relations at Cornell University in the fall. His life felt pretty perfect. “Everything was going great — I was a national club team swimmer at the peak of my career, I was headed ... Read More about Freak accident leads to Dylan’s passion for neurosurgery
Maisie’s story: Our journey with Apert syndrome
Our daughter Maisie is 4 years old. She loves riding her bike, baking, jumping on the trampoline, and keeping up with her older sister, Eliza. She’s also especially skilled at peeling hard boiled eggs. We learned prenatally at 18 weeks that something was going on with Maisie’s development. My doctors suspected craniosynostosis, a condition where the ... Read More about Maisie’s story: Our journey with Apert syndrome
Minimally invasive surgery safe and effective for craniosynostosis
Traditional treatment for children with craniosynostosis — a condition in which the bones of the skull grow together too early in the child’s development — usually involves an extensive open craniectomy surgery with a incision to release the fused bones. But a study from physicians in the Cleft and Craniofacial Center at Boston Children’s Hospital ... Read More about Minimally invasive surgery safe and effective for craniosynostosis
Guidance for assessing treatment response in pediatric brain tumors
Assessing patients’ response to cancer therapy can be challenging, especially in neuro-oncology. Generally, we assess treatment response by a change in tumor size on MRI scan. However, with brain tumors, changes on MRI scan can be difficult to interpret. A decrease in tumor size may indicate treatment is having an effect; however, a drug can ... Read More about Guidance for assessing treatment response in pediatric brain tumors
Sharing our journey with cavernous malformations
Finley and her twin sister, Rowan, were born seven weeks premature on November 7, 2017 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. In July 2019, Finley was diagnosed with a cavernous malformation, an abnormal mass of thin-walled blood vessels, in a part of her brain called the cerebellum. My wife, Jolene, and I were shocked. Although I was diagnosed ... Read More about Sharing our journey with cavernous malformations
I never thought this would happen to our son
On June 16, 2019, our 4-year-old son, Evan, fell off a jungle gym at daycare. At first, his daycare provider thought he was fine. He got right up and seemed to recover. She called me and we agreed to watch him to see if there were any changes. A couple hours later, Evan started throwing ... Read More about I never thought this would happen to our son
Jason: My remarkable journey
Most people associate the city of Boston with the Red Sox or the Patriots. I, however, cannot help but associate it with brain surgery. I had my first seizure in the summer of 2006, when I was 14 years old and at camp in Connecticut. Gradually, the seizures increased in intensity and frequency. My parents took me ... Read More about Jason: My remarkable journey