Penn Medicine Announces New Advanced Care Hospital Pavilion and Trauma Center at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center

Penn Medicine recently announced plans to begin the second part of an expansion project that will transform and modernize the advanced care services provided at the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (PPMC) campus. In addition to the recently announced Penn Center for Specialty Care, the new Advanced Care Hospital Pavilion will provide the infrastructure and programmatic support needed for PPMC to become Penn Medicine’s Level-I Regional Resource Trauma Center.

To learn more about this exciting project, click here.

Pennsylvania Hospital Nurse Awarded for Nursing Excellence

From left to right: Steve Brem, MD, Denise Miller RN, and John Y.K. Lee, MD

Penn Medicine awarded Pennsylvania Hospital’s Denise Miller RN, BSN, CNOR, the Rosalyn J. Watts Award for Nurse-Patient/Family Relationship. Miller, who is the coordinator for Gamma Knife radiosurgery at Penn Neurosurgery, personifies everything the award stands for.

The Rosalyn J. Watts Award recognizes nurses who consistently establish therapeutic relationships with patients and their families, characterized by individualized care. Knowing their patients, these nurses incorporate religious, spiritual, ethnic and cultural beliefs into the delivery of care.

“Congratulations to Denise on this well-deserved award,” said M. Sean Grady, MD, Penn Neurosurgery chair and Charles Harrison Frazier Professor of Neurosurgery. “She embodies the spirit of the three "A's,” which I consider the pillars of providing superior patient care: Availability, Affability and Ability.”

As part of  the Clinical Advancement Recognition Program at Penn Medicine, the Rosalyn J. Watts Award is presented annually to nurses who demonstrate superior contributions to quality patient care, including clinical knowledge and professional achievements. 

Congratulations to Denise!

A Better Road Map for Neurosurgeons

Steven Brem, MD

The front page of yesterday’s Philadelphia Inquirer Health section reports that, while preparing to remove a malignant tumor from the Rev. Michael Prewitt's brain, neurosurgeon Steven Brem, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania worried that the surgery could affect his patient's ability to speak or move.

He studied an MRI that showed the tumor in Prewitt's left parietal lobe. But he also examined a new type of scan: diffusion tensor imaging. For surgeons like Dr. Brem, professor of Neurosurgery and director of Neurosurgical Oncology at Penn Medicine, the new technology is like going from knowing only where a city's major buildings and parking lots are to seeing the network of roads that connect them.

"That's huge," Dr. Brem said. "That is a groundbreaking paradigm shift."

Though some experts say there was no proof the scans improved surgical outcomes, Dr. Brem found some evidence it does when he helped write a review of the science for the journal Neurosurgical Focus last month.

A 2007 study from Shanghai found the median survival for patients with gliomas, a category of brain tumors that includes the type Prewitt has, was 21 months for patients whose surgeons had seen DTIs before the operation compared to 14 months for other patients. The work is done in partnership with Penn Radiology.

Read the full story at the Philadelphia Inquirer. 

Five Surgeons from Penn Neurosurgery Earn 'Top Doc' Honors

Each year, Philadelphia magazine recognizes the area’s outstanding doctors in their Top Doctors issue. The list is viewed as a “gold standard for those seeking the finest medical care in the Philadelphia area.”

We are pleased to announce that five neurosurgeons from Penn Neurosurgery made the 2013 Top Doctors list:

Name	Subspecialties
M. Sean Grady, MD	Cerebrovascular Surgery, Aneurysm-Cerebral, Arteriovenous Malformations, Brain Injury-Traumatic,  Pituitary Tumors,  Skull-Based Tumors
John Y. K. Lee, MD	Brain Tumors, Stereotactic Radiosurgery, Skull Base Surgery, Endoscopic Surgery
Donald M. O’Rourke, MD	Neuro-Oncology, Brain Tumors, Spinal Disorders
William C. Welch, MD, FACS, FICS	Spinal surgery, back surgery
Eric L. Zager, MD	Peripheral Nerve Disorders, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Pediatric Neurosurgery, Cerebrovascular Surgery

The Top Doctors list recognizes not only doctors who excel in academic medicine and research, but also those with outstanding interpersonal skills. Philadelphia magazine selects physicians for its Top Doctors list through both a national and local nominating process completed by peer doctors.

Penn Neurosurgery offers advanced, surgical management of disorders of the brain, spinal cord and nervous system. It is ranked by U.S.News & World Report as the best program for neurosurgery in the Greater Philadelphia region.

Learn more about the Penn Neurosurgery team.

Penn Neurosurgery Adds New Location in Chestnut Hill

Penn Neurosurgery announces the addition of a new location in Chestnut Hill, PA.

Neil R. Malhotra, MD, assistant professor of neurosurgery, who will continue to see patients at Valley Forge and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), will now have office hours in Chestnut Hill as well.

Dr. Malhotra will provide evaluations of all brain, spine and central nervous system conditions at this new location. He treats brain and spinal disorders including herniated disc repair, canal decompression, tumor treatment and alignment correction.

For more information or to make an appointment, please call 800.789.PENN (7366) or visit the Chestnut Hill location page.

Teen Recovers from Rare Pituitary Condition after Treatment at Penn Medicine

After suffering a concussion on the soccer field, 17 year-old Victoria Pallis began to experience headaches which forced her to start seeing neurologists.  After learning of the Penn Pituitary Center, Victoria’s family sent her MRIs for review.  Two days later, they were seen by Peter Snyder, MD, a professor of medicine in the endocrinology division and medical director of the Penn Pituitary Center.

Victoria had an unusual form of hypophysitis— a rare disease that causes inflammation of the pituitary gland and often disrupts vision.  In early December, M. Sean Grady, MD, chair of the department of neurosurgery, and Bert O'Malley, MD, chair of the department of otorhinolaryngology, performed a six-hour biopsy and surgery.  Following the procedure, Victoria was prescribed an adrenal steroid. Her peripheral vision came back within a few weeks.  Victoria is now in her senior year of high school and getting ready to go to college in the fall. Perhaps the most telling improvement in her vision came on the basketball court when Victoria rejoined her team. “My friend is 6 feet tall and I could see her out of the side of my eye. I realized I hadn’t been able to see her before.”

Read more about Victoria’s story.

Penn Neurosurgery Hosts Neuro-Oncology and Skull Base Course

This past weekend, Penn Neurosurgery hosted a comprehensive three-day continuing medical education (CME) program in Neuro-Oncology and Skull Base Surgery.

The course focused on advances and innovative treatment of gliomas and brain metastasis, the use of Gamma Knife Perfexion radiosurgery and proton therapy for brain tumors, and endoscopic surgery in treatment of skull base disorders.

There was a mix of lectures and case studies and included hands-on laboratory sessions to enhance the learning experience.

A special highlight of the program was the Distinguished Skull Base Professorship, featuring presentations by Peter Nakaji, MD from Barrow Neurosurgical Associates in Phoenix, Arizona and Carl H. Snyderman, MD, MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. The editor of Journal of Neuro-Oncology, Dr. Linda Liau, professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, presented her perspective on glioma surgery and treatment.

The course was led by Penn neurosurgeons, Sean M. Grady, MD, Charles Harrison Frazier Professor and chair of Penn Neurosurgery and John Y.K. Lee, MD, assistant professor of neurosurgery.

Several Penn Medicine faculty members with Distinguished Skull Base Professorship Peter Nakaji, MD (3rd from left) and Carl H. Snyderman, MD, MBA (4th from left) during the Neuro-Oncology and Skull Base CME course held in Philadelphia on March 7-9, 2013.