Centers of Excellence: Neurology

The life-saving and life-changing advances in neurology and neurosurgery frequently resemble science fiction. Imagine a tiny camera threaded through a patient’s nose guiding surgeons in removing a tumor at the base of the skull; tumors deep within the brain pulverized with high-beam radiation administered under local anesthesia; three-dimensional nonsurgical scans that enhance surgical precision, pinpoint the site of an epileptic attack , or measure blood flow in infected areas. Neuroscience centers offer everyday miracle stories. G., a 63-year-old man with a history of esophageal cancer, was found to have a suspicious mass in the frontal lobe of his brain. He chose to be treated at UPHS with a research protocol that used an inflatable balloon inserted in the tumor area to deliver focused radiation. He’s still alive six years later. A patient at Jefferson with a cerebral aneurysm that couldn’t be reached through normal surgery would have died without an intracranial stent procedure pioneered by Robert Rosenwasser. Parkinson’s disease patients, once totally disabled by involuntary tremors, can now be helped with drugs and deep brain stimulation with tiny electrodes. These centers are actively involved in major research and clinical trials, too.

Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience, 900 Walnut Street, 215-955-6000, jefferesonhospital.org/neuroscience

Neurology and Neurosurgery at UPHS, 3400 Spruce Street, 800-789-PENN, pennhealth.com/neuro/

Temple Hospital Neurosciences Center, 3401 North Broad Street, 800-836-7536, neurosciences.templehealth.org