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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Patient Content

Spinal Tumors

By:
  • AANS
Last updated: April 11, 2024
A spinal tumor is an abnormal mass of tissue within or surrounding the spinal cord and/or spinal column.
Patient Content

Sports-related Head Injury

By:
  • Nitin Agarwal, MD
  • Rut Thakkar
  • Khoi Than, MD, FAANS
Last updated: June 25, 2024
There are an estimated 1.7 to 3.8 million traumatic brain injuries each year in the United States, according to the CDC, of which 10 percent arise due to sports and recreational activities. Amongst American children and adolescents, sports and recreational activities contribute to over 21 percent of all traumatic brain injuries. Sustaining an injury while […]
Patient Content

Sports-related Neck Injury

By:
  • Nitin Agarwal MD
  • Rut Thakkar
  • Khoi Than, MD
Last updated: March 28, 2024
Playing sports can contribute to neck injuries of varying degrees of severity ranging from relatively minor injuries such as muscle strains to severe life-threatening conditions such as neck fractures and cervical spinal cord injuries. A fractured (broken) neck is a very serious matter, but in many cases, the patient can make a full recovery and regain all neurological functions. A neck fracture can sometimes lead to a complete spinal cord injury, which will result in some degree of paralysis or even death.
Patient Content

Stereotactic Brain Biopsy

By:
  • AANS
Last updated: April 11, 2024
Stereotactic Brain Biopsy is a common procedure that allows a neurosurgeon to diagnose a brain lesion.
Patient Content

Stereotactic Radiosurgery

By:
  • AANS
Last updated: April 10, 2024
Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) was conceived by a team of neurosurgeons and physicists in Sweden about 50 years ago to deliver radiation to precise targets in the brain while minimizing injury to adjacent areas.
Patient Content

Tarlov Cyst

By:
  • AANS
Last updated: April 10, 2024
Tarlov cysts are fluid-filled nerve root cysts found most commonly at the sacral level of the spine
Patient Content

Tethered Spinal Cord Syndrome

By:
  • Omar Zalatimo, MD MPH MHA FAANSDirector, Functional Neurosurgery LifeBridge Health Baltimore
Last updated: April 10, 2024
Tethered spinal cord syndrome is a neurologic disorder caused by tissue attachments that limit the movement of the spinal cord within the spinal column.
Patient Content

Traumatic Brain Injury

By:
  • Nitin Agarwal, MD
  • Rut Thakkar
  • Khoi Than, MD, FAANS
Last updated: March 27, 2024
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a disruption in the normal function of the brain that can be caused by a blow, bump or jolt to the head, the head suddenly and violently hitting an object or when an object pierces the skull and enters brain tissue.
Patient Content

Trigeminal Neuralgia

By:
  • Julie G. Pilitsis, MD, PhDChair, Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics Professor, Neurosurgery and Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics Albany Medical College
  • Olga KhazenResearch Coordinator, Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics Albany Medical College
Last updated: April 10, 2024
Trigeminal neuralgia (TN), also known as tic douloureux, is sometimes described as the most excruciating pain known to humanity.
Patient Content

Vagus Nerve Stimulation

By:
  • AANS
Last updated: April 10, 2024
The vagus nerve is one of 12 pairs of cranial nerves that originate in the brain and is part of the autonomic nervous system, which controls involuntary body functions. The nerve passes through the neck as it travels between the chest and abdomen and the lower part of the brain. It is connected to motor functions in the voice box, diaphragm, stomach and heart and sensory functions in the ears and tongue. It is connected to both motor and sensory functions in the sinuses and esophagus.