Duke Health Blog
Stories and news about treatment advances that improve your health and quality of life

Neurosurgery

Learn about the innovative approaches employed by Duke neurosurgeons to treat people with a variety of conditions, from brain cancer to spinal deformities.

Showing 1 - 12 of 31 results
What You Need to Know About Deep Brain Stimulation
What You Need to Know About Deep Brain Stimulation

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical therapy for neurologic conditions like epilepsy and movement disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease and essential tr ...

Unruptured Brain Aneurysm: Know the Symptoms and When to Seek Care
Unruptured Brain Aneurysm: Know the Symptoms and When to Seek Care

A ruptured brain aneurysm can be deadly, but most people don’t realize they have a brain aneurysm until it’s too late. That’s because unruptured brain aneurysm ...

Young Man Gets Driver’s License After Epilepsy Surgery Eliminates Seizures
Young Man Gets Driver’s License After Epilepsy Surgery Eliminates Seizures

Hampstead, NC native Harvey Squires was diagnosed with epilepsy at 14 years old. As his seizures worsened, Harvey’s parents sought care for him from doctors ac ...

Hemispherectomy Cures Epilepsy in Young Girl, Now Thriving
Hemispherectomy Cures Epilepsy in Young Girl, Now Thriving

Ela Allam was diagnosed with epilepsy at age three and started taking anti-seizure medications. As Ela grew, her seizures became more frequent and more dangero ...

Chiari Malformation Symptoms Improve After Minimally Invasive Brain Surgery at Duke
Chiari Malformation Symptoms Improve After Minimally Invasive Brain Surgery at Duke

Kendra Gerlach was used to chronic headaches; she’d had them since childhood. In May 2022, the 50-year-old, Richmond, VA resident experienced a headache so exc ...

Boy Is Seizure-Free after Complex Epilepsy Surgery
Boy Is Seizure-Free after Complex Epilepsy Surgery

Nathaniel Clauss was diagnosed with epilepsy at age eight, after a seizure caused him to fall at his school in Washington, D.C. Despite starting multiple medic ...

High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Reduces Shaking from Essential Tremor
High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Reduces Shaking from Essential Tremor

If you’ve been diagnosed with essential tremor and medication is not doing enough to control your involuntary shaking, focused ultrasound may be an option. Thi ...

Minimally Invasive Procedure Corrects Vein of Galen Malformation
Minimally Invasive Procedure Corrects Vein of Galen Malformation

During a routine ultrasound, Amanda Brown, age 29, learned her unborn baby had a rare brain abnormality called a vein of Galen malformation, which can cause de ...

Duke Experts Perform Successful Brain Surgery for Moyamoya
Duke Experts Perform Successful Brain Surgery for Moyamoya

As a college student in Greenville, SC, Marcie O’Neill began experiencing headaches, vision changes, numbness, and speech problems. After a trip to her local h ...

Awake Surgery for Endovascular Brain Aneurysm Repair Lowers Risks, Speeds Recovery
Awake Surgery for Endovascular Brain Aneurysm Repair Lowers Risks, Speeds Recovery

After being diagnosed with an unruptured brain aneurysm in fall 2021, Bridget Esposito learned she needed brain surgery to prevent a life-threatening rupture. ...

Have a Brain Aneurysm? Assess Your Risk of Rupture with More Accuracy at Duke
Have a Brain Aneurysm? Assess Your Risk of Rupture with More Accuracy at Duke

Unruptured brain aneurysms, bulging areas in the brain’s blood vessels, can be dangerous -- even deadly -- if they leak or rupture. In the past, determining wh ...

5 Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Epilepsy Surgery
5 Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Epilepsy Surgery

Epilepsy surgery can be highly effective at reducing or eliminating seizures. However, many people don’t understand the potential benefits and when epilepsy su ...