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

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

Nerve Transfer Surgery Relieves Pain, Restores Function Lost to Nerve Damage
If you experience chronic pain, numbness, or weakness in your spine, arms, or legs due to nerve damage, a procedure called nerve transfer surgery may improve o ...

Runner Competes in Marathon After Eyebrow Craniotomy for Brain Aneurysm
A morning run turned scary for Hillary Lockemer in July 2012, when the then 32-year-old suddenly became weak and passed out. Doctors diagnosed her with a ruptu ...

Know the Signs of Stroke - BE FAST
While stroke is the fifth leading cause of death, few people know the signs. Use the acronym BE FAST to remember the signs of stroke, and what to do if someone ...

Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery Relieves Parkinson’s Symptoms in Air Force Colonel
Paul Brezinski was only 37 when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Within eight years, his tremors made life so difficult that he traveled from his hom ...