Conditions & Treatments

Developed by neurosurgeons, this resource provides patients and their families trustworthy information on a wide range of neurosurgical conditions and diseases. Learn about disease and injury risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and both surgical and nonsurgical treatment options.

Select the treatment or condition you are interested in for more detailed information.

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Cushing’s Syndrome/Disease

By:
  • AANS
Last updated: April 29, 2024
Cushing's syndrome is a disorder caused by the body’s exposure to an excess of the hormone cortisol.
Patient Content

Dawn Evans’ Patient Story

By:
  • Dawn EvansPatient
Last updated: July 17, 2024
In 1973, when I was seven years old, I had a series of grand mal seizures. My parents took me to a handful of neurologists to find out why. Because the […]
Patient Content

Deep Brain Stimulation

By:
  • Julie G Pilitsis, MD, PhD, FAANSChair, Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics Professor, Neurosurgery and Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics Albany Medical College. Dr. Pilitsis specializes in neuromodulation with research interests in treatments for movement disorders and chronic pain.
  • Olga Khazen, BSResearch Coordinator Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics Albany Medical College
  • Shrey Patel, BSResearch Assistant Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics Albany Medical College
Last updated: April 15, 2024
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an elective surgical procedure in which electrodes are implanted into certain brain areas. These electrodes, or leads, generate electrical impulses that control abnormal brain activity. The electrical impulses can also adjust for the chemical imbalances within the brain that cause various conditions. Stimulation of brain areas is controlled by a programmable generator that is placed under the skin in the upper chest.
Patient Content

Denise Garcia’s Patient Story

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Last updated: July 17, 2024
Neurosurgeon: Aviva Abosch, MD, PhD, FAANS Condition: Focal epilepsy with grand mal/tonic clonic seizures and absence seizures. The typical 16-year-old is looking forward to getting a driver’s license, applying to college and going to the next […]
Patient Content

Diagnosed with Astrocytoma Tumor: A Patient’s Story

By:
  • AANS Neurosurgical Members
Last updated: July 17, 2024
Shortly after having her second child, Jennifer Giliberto, then 32, began noticing that she started fumbling things more than usual, but assumed it was nothing serious. However, in February 2006, […]
Patient Content

Dystonia

By:
  • Alex P. Michael, MDDivision of Neurosurgery, Neuroscience Institute Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
Last updated: April 15, 2024
Dystonia is a very complex, highly variable neurological movement disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions. As many as 250,000 people in the United States have dystonia, making it the third most common movement disorder behind essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease. It is a condition that knows no age, ethnic or racial boundaries – it can affect young children to older adults of all races and ethnicities.
Patient Content

Elizabeth Erman’s Patient Story

By:
  • AANS Neurosurgical Members
Last updated: July 3, 2024
Neurosurgeon: Ralph G. Dacey Jr., MD, Washington University School of Medicine, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis Patient: Elizabeth Erman, age 38, Ophthalmic Segment Internal Carotid-artery Aneurysm In mid-September 2004, two weeks before my […]
Patient Content

Epilepsy

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Last updated: September 10, 2024
Epilepsy is a disorder of the brain characterized by repeated seizures. A seizure is usually defined as a sudden alteration of behavior due to a temporary change in the electrical functioning of the brain.
Patient Content

Epilepsy Surgery: Vagus Nerve Stimulation

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Last updated: June 26, 2024
The vagus nerve is one of the cranial nerves that originates in the brain and is part of the autonomic nervous system, which controls involuntary body functions. The nerve begins at the brainstem and passes through the […]