Diagnostic and therapeutic methods in neurosurgery are constantly being improved, technological innovations are being actively introduced into practice, allowing specialists to achieve tremendous success in strugle against various diseases that require neurosurgical care. For a modern neurosurgery clinic, equipment such as computed tomographs, various microscopes, navigation systems, etc. is simply irreplaceable. Thanks to application of this equipment and trained personnel, serious complications during neurosurgical interventions have almost ceased to occur.

Department of Neurosurgery at Tel Aviv Medical Center is part of Surgery Department of and provides all necessary assistance to neurosurgical patients, from diagnostic stage to all necessary treatment procedures/operations and rehabilitation. Our doctors perform the most complicated surgeries on brain, spinal cord, spine, and peripheral nerves. If you need effective treatment for brain cancer in Israel, our specialists will help you cope with even such a serious disease. In our department, patient can receive not only standard care for diseases of nervous system, but also ultra-modern and high-tech procedures and manipulations, for example, radiosurgery (gamma knife, cyber knife, nano knife), stereotactic and functional neurosurgery.

Discussion. Colleagues discussing MRI results

Advantages of treatment at Department of Neurosurgery at Tel Aviv Medical Center:

Patient receives comprehensive care and full medical support from initial diagnostics to the final stage of treatment and rehabilitation.
Our neurosurgeons treat all neurological diseases, both common and quite rare; both malignant (brain tumors, spinal cord, spine, peripheral nerves) and benign (for example, epilepsy), including degenerative (multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, etc.).
Department of Neurosurgery includes several areas (separate clinics) that study, diagnose and treat a specific disease of nervous system or a group of them (clinic for brain tumors, clinic for tumors of spinal cord and spine, clinic for epilepsy treatment, etc.).
The best neurosurgeons in Israel, who have excellent theoretical training and extensive practical experience make provide surgery for patients.
Our specialists use only high-quality modern medical equipment, which allows us to offer patients treatment programs and care of the highest level.
If necessary, a whole multidisciplinary team is involved in process – neurosurgeons, neurologists, oncologists, rehabilitation specialists, radiologists, pain treatment specialists, etc. This allows us to provide all the necessary comprehensive care to patient in the shortest possible time.
A unique opportunity for patients, especially those with brain cancer, to gain access to experimental cancer treatment programs such as stem cells or biological drugs.

What diseases does Neurosurgery Department treat?

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Departments

On the basis of Department of Neurosurgy there are several highly specialized clinics that study, diagnose and treat certain diseases or their groups:

Brain Tumor Clinic – specialists in this area engage in surgical treatment of benign and malignant brain tumors.
Clinic for tumors of spinal cord and spine – neurosurgeons in this area provide assistance to patients with both benign tumors of spinal cord and spine, and with malignant ones.
Functional neurosurgery – specialists in this profile help patients with epilepsy, spastic disorders or other movement disorders.
Neurosurgery of peripheral nervous system – surgical treatment of diseases, tumors or injuries of peripheral nerves.
Neurovascular surgery – neurosurgeons of this profile treat vascular diseases of brain and spinal cord (aneurysms, stenoses, arteriovenous malformations, strokes).
Skull base surgery is a neurosurgical field that deals with treatment of diseases, tumors, and injuries of skull base.
Treatment of head and spinal column injuries – surgical care for traumatic injuries of structures of central nervous system and spine.

Pituitary tumor clinic – neurosurgical treatment of benign and malignant pituitary tumors.

Important!

Department of Neurosurgery includes a large number of specialized clinics, equipped with the latest technology, staffed by experienced specialists.

Tel Aviv Medical Center also actively conducts clinical research and development of advanced methods for treating pathologies of central and peripheral nervous system.

Diagnostic methods in neurosurgery

If a certain disease of brain or spinal cord is suspected, patient is referred to a detailed and modern diagnostic program. Considering the inaccessibility of these organs for research (brain is located inside a closed structure – cranium, and spinal cord – inside spinal canal), complex and high-tech diagnostic procedures should be used in order to establish the correct diagnosis. All of them are available to patients at Tel Aviv Medical Center. If there is a need for an invasive procedure, it is carried out according to international standards under local or general anesthesia so that patient does not experience any pain or fear.

To verify an accurate diagnosis, the following examinations are usually used:

various laboratory and clinical tests of blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid;
CT (computed tomography) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) of head, spine, and, if necessary, the whole body, 3D and 4D modeling of problem area;
PET-CT of brain and spinal cord;
color Dopplerography of head and neck vessels;
angiography of cerebral vessels;
neurophysiological diagnostic methods, for example EEG – electroencephalography;
performing a puncture of spinal canal and various studies of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF);
biopsy, cytological and histological examination, immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence examination of tissues (for example, parts of benign or malignant tumors).

Important!

If a biopsy is needed to establish an accurate diagnosis, then the selected tissue samples are examined by the best pathomorphologists.

Thanks to such “molecular tests”, we are confident in the correct diagnosis and selection of the most optimal treatment regimen.

Modern treatment methods in neurosurgery

Modern help for hydrocephalus (water on brain) gives a chance for a future and healthy life. One such innovative procedure is ventriculo-peritoneal shunt (V-P SHUNT). In this case, a thin shunt is implanted inside the skull at one end, and at the other it is brought into abdominal cavity, where excess cerebrospinal fluid flows.

Neurosurgery has made significant progress in surgical treatment of epilepsy. Among these innovative procedures, noteworthy is resection of a certain area of brain responsible for pathological activity and seizures development, as well as electrical stimulation of vagus nerve.

For diseases of pituitary gland, innovative minimally invasive surgical interventions are performed, when surgery is performed exclusively through a nasal access (transsphenoidal) without damaging cranium integrity. In some cases, it is necessary to perform transcranial removal of pituitary adenomas when the tumor reaches a significant size and it is impossible to provide surgery using access through the nose.

Tel Aviv Medical Center patients with Parkinson’s disease have access to advanced neurosurgical treatment for this problem. For example, good results can be achieved by implanting a neurostimulator in thalamus (thalamic stimulator) into brain. Treatment complex also uses effective non-invasive procedures – MRI-guided focused ultrasound.

Also, patients with brain tumors have the opportunity to undergo modern neurosurgical treatment using a stereotactic radiosurgical gamma knife unit. In such cases surgery is performed without a single incision, and pathological focus in brain is destroyed under the influence of ionizing radiation from this installation.

Cyber knife is an analogue of gamma knife. This is a radiotherapeutic stereotactic device for treatment of various malformations in human body, including brain. Thanks to modern computer software, system allows the required dose of radiation to be delivered directly to tumor, without damaging surrounding organs and tissues, which is so important in neurosurgery.

Nano-knife technology is successfully used in Israel to treat tumors, especially in hard-to-reach areas of body, including deep brain structures. This method is based on the technique of surgical electrical ablation, when thin electrodes are applied to tumor, through which a high-voltage electrical charge is supplied, destroying tumor cells.

Also in modern neurosurgery, the latest X-knife technique is used. This is a modern stereotactic neurosurgical unit based on a linear accelerator. Tumor cells are destroyed at a distance (without direct surgical access) using ionizing radiation, while healthy surrounding tissues are not negatively affected.

Another type of modern intervention for brain diseases is cryosurgery. This is a neurosurgical procedure that uses very cool probes that are inserted into the tumor to destroy malignant cells while sparing completely healthy surrounding tissue.

For lesions of spine, such surgery as vertebroplasty is often performed. The essence of the procedure is to strengthen and fill the defect of vertebrae affected by pathological process with a special biocompatible material (bone cement). Procedure may be required for patients with vertebral compression fractures, osteoporosis, spinal tumors or injuries, hemangioma, or metastatic lesions of spinal column.

Kyphoplasty is a minimally invasive spinal surgery that restores affected areas. With the help of kyphoplasty, patient can restore his normal physical activity, maintain mobility of a part of spine affected by pathological process, get rid of pain in this area of damage to spinal column, and lead an active and healthy life.

In case of spine degenerative lesions and their consequences, the entire range of necessary neurosurgical interventions on spinal cord and spine can be performed:

removal of damaged intervertebral discs;
installation of interspinous endofixation systems;
laser vaporization of spinal column hernias;
microsurgical removal of herniated intervertebral discs, regardless of their location;
minimally invasive technique Disc-FX (radio wave method of intervertebral discs decompression);
prosthetics of vertebrae affected by pathological process;
resection of spine section with a single block (En block Resection).

This is only a part of all modern and highly effective treatment procedures actively used in the department of Tel Aviv Medical Center. We strive to provide all necessary treatment using minimally invasive procedures to facilitate and speed up recovery. In addition to high professionalism, our staff treats patients with special attention and care, providing individually designed treatment programs that meet the needs of each.