Brain Tumor Patients Have New National Search Tool to Find Surgeons Using Latest Technologies to Treat Challenging or Inoperable Disease Diagnoses

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Feb 17, 2015, 06:00 ET

INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- A growing group of experienced neurosurgeons trained on new advanced technologies for brain surgery are providing brain tumor and family members of stroke patients a national search tool that helps them easily find surgeons in their region trained in a new surgical approach. This new approach can identify, map, and often access and remove challenging deep-seated tumors or certain strokes that may have once been considered inoperable – giving new hope to patients facing disheartening news.

This group of surgeons formed the Subcortical Surgery Group (SSG) last year and currently has members representing more than 50 hospitals and healthcare institutions across the U.S. The new Physician Locator national search tool is easy to use, requiring visitors to simply point to a state on the map and click to get a list of neurosurgeons who are trained and working in designated BrainPath Centers. The locator tool is part of a comprehensive website, www.subcorticalsurgery.com, that includes a patient portal featuring patient success stories and educational resources. The site also serves as a key resource for surgeons to securely share cases and collaborate on best surgical practices, ultimately benefitting the surgical outcomes of the patient.

"Through this website and the Physician Locator tool, our goal is to connect patients with physicians who can potentially offer hope through this new approach," said Dr. J.D. Day, professor and chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and member of the SSG. "We are striving for eloquence and precision, and this approach opens up a new category of patient care that we have not been able to provide before."

The SSG is entering its second year as an organized user group with a goal of empowering progress through collaboration. The website is viewed as an important resource for patients and family members seeking alternative treatment answers through a new integrated surgical approach that is gaining wider adoption because of proven improved outcomes for appropriate cases. The approach has been used in addressing brain tumors that include glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), brain metastasis (METS), intracerebral hemorrhages (ICHs) / hemorrhagic stroke, astrocytomas, cavernomas, and other brain abnormalities.

SSG Executive Committee member Dr. Mohammed Labib represented the group's collective effort and clinical outcomes recently at the International Stroke Conference (ISC) with a podium presentation on their multi-center pilot study results on hemorrhagic stroke. The 35-patient, 10-center pilot study showed statistically significant functional recovery and no new deficits in a disease state that can lead to death in up to 50 percent of cases. Further details on this promising pilot data are available on the Subcortical Surgery Group website.

"The new surgical approach is seeing wider market adoption with more than 1,200 cases performed and very compelling results indicating improved clinical outcomes for patients and economic results for hospitals," said Dr. Julian Bailes, Chairman of Department of Neurosurgery, NorthShore University Health System, and president of the SSG. "Our members are among some of the early adopters of new technology, and we are making advances on what is possibly the final frontier of minimally invasive surgery in the body. In this case, that means safely and effectively reaching abnormalities in the brain's white matter or subcortical space."

The mission of the SSG is to optimize minimally invasive surgical corridors to the brain's subcortical or deeper spaces through clinical and scientific collaborative research that will impact the safe and effective treatment of brain tumors and hemorrhagic stroke. The group's second annual meeting will be held this summer in Park City, Utah, with a focus on subcortical innovation. More than 100 neurosurgeons from across the country are expected to attend.

The Subcortical Surgery Group is led by a 10-member neurosurgeon Board of Directors and executive committee. Board and executive members of the Subcortical Surgery Group include: Julian Bailes, MD, Northshore University Health; J.D. Day, MD, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; Amin Kassam, MD, Aurora Health Care; Gavin Britz, MBBCh, MPH, FAANS, Houston Methodist Hospital; Gary Gallia, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins Hospital; Richard Rovin, FACS, MD, Aurora Health Care; Mohamed Labib, MD, Clinical Neurological Sciences, Gustavo Pradilla, MD, Grady Memorial Hospital; Ronald Young, MD, St. Vincent Hospital, and Lloyd Zucker, MD, FAANS, Delray Medical Center.

To learn more about the Subcortical Surgery Group, visit www.subcorticalsurgery.com.

Contact: Meghan Freeman
[email protected]
(317) 627.8856

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SOURCE NICO Corporation