Service Lines

Complex Spine Reconstruction
Complex spinal surgery has been a rapidly evolving subspecialty of neurosurgery, and the scope of the specialty has been expanding due to technical advances in diagnosis, spinal instrumentation and microsurgical techniques. There are many different spinal disorders, and some of the most commonly treated are:
Cervical radiculopathy due to cervical disc disease
Lumbar radiculopathy due to lumbar disc disease
Cervical stenosis causing myelopathy
Lumbar stenosis causing neurogenic claudication
Reconstruction of complex spinal disorders including acute fractures and degenerative disease
Rheumatoid diseases causing myelopathy
Reconstruction of primary and metastatic spinal disease
Craniovertebral junction disorders
Chiari malformations and other related causes of syringomyelia
Vascular malformations of the spinal cord
Neoplasms of the spinal cord

Pediatric Neurosurgery
The program in pediatric neurosurgery at Neurosurgical Associates is dedicated to the evaluation and treatment of neurological and neurosurgical problems seen in children from the West Texas and Eastern New Mexico regions. These include: hydrocephalus; congenital malformations of the skull, brain, and spine (such as myelodysplasia); pediatric neuro-oncology; pediatric neurovascular surgery; surgery for epilepsy; and functional neurosurgery for spasticity. Pediatric Neurosurgery specializes in the surgical treatment of pediatric brain and spinal tumors in conjunction with a pediatric oncologist. A team of specialists including pediatric neurologists, oncologists, endocrinologists, urologists and orthopedists, accomplishes the evaluation and treatment of children with neurosurgical problems.

Skull-Base Surgery
Skull-base is a term used to refer to the region of the head at the base of the skull beneath the brain. Abnormalities most commonly addressed at the skull-base include tumors as well as abnormalities of the blood vessels of the brain. These abnormalities are often highly complex due to intimate involvement of the complicated anatomy at the base of the skull. Tumors and vascular abnormalities of the skull-base often require a team-based approach utilizing the expertise of physicians from multiple specialties, including Neurosurgery, Otolaryngology, Radiology, Radiation Oncology and Medical Oncology.

Functional Stereotactic Surgery
For many patients with Parkinson's disease or essential tremor, medications alone are often inadequate to control disabling symptoms. Some of these patients may benefit from stereotactic neurosurgical procedures to improve their level of function. The most common neurosurgical procedures performed for movement disorders by neurosurgeons at Neurosurgical Associates are pallidotomy, thalamotomy, thalamic deep brain stimulation, and subthalamic deep brain stimulation.

Cerebrovascular Surgery
In the area of cerebrovascular disease, there is an interest in the surgical treatment of large and complex aneurysms. Intraoperative angiography augments capabilities in this area. A combination of microsurgical, interventional, neuroradiological, and stereotactic radiosurgical procedures are used to treat cerebral and spinal arteriovenous malformations.

Neurosurgical Oncology / Brain Tumors
Brain tumors encompass a wide spectrum of neoplasms that occur either in the brain or in the structures that cover the surface of the brain. These tumors present with various symptoms and result in multiple neurological problems, e.g., headaches, seizures, personality changes, weakness, or gait difficulty. Brain tumors are commonly diagnosed with neuro-imaging studies, such as CT or MR scans. A patient diagnosed with a brain tumor is seen by a neurosurgeon and medical oncologist. Clinical, surgical, radiological, and pathological findings from particular patients are discussed along with potential treatment plans. Patients often may be treated with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and/or gamma knife radiosurgery.

Acoustic Neuroma
"Acoustic Tumor" or "Acoustic Neuroma" are terms commonly applied to tumors that arise within the cochleovestibular nerve, the 8th cranial nerve. Most of these tumors are known as either solitary vestibular Schwannomas (those occurring on one side only, most common, usually not hereditary in patients over 30 years old) or bilateral vestibular Schwannomas of neurofibromatosis-type 2, known as NF II (these are hereditary and other family members may have these often initially silent tumors; many other tumors in and around the brain and spinal cord may be present in these cases). Histologically, these tumors are named after the cell of origin, the Schwann cell that is also known as a neurilemmal cell, thus these tumors are also known as neurilemmomas. Other tumors, such as meningiomas, which arise from tissues adjacent to the 8th nerve, may present with the same symptoms as those tumors arising within the 8th nerve.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Our new state of the art GE 1.5T Short-Bore MRI machine provides convenience and comfort to our patients. The magnet contains a wide-open enclosure to help patients relax before and during the exam. The GE magnet has accurate field uniformity to deliver consistent results even in demanding applications such as full spine scans. The new state of the art GE MRI scanner is one of the fastest scanners available on the market today. Neurosurgical Associates, LLP is pleased to offer this new technology.