Director: Hooman Azmi, MD FAANS
The Center for Functional, Restorative, and Image Guide Neurosurgery at HackensackUMC is a state of the art comprehensive multidisciplinary center which offers the most advanced treatments for patients suffering from disorders as wide ranging from epilepsy to movement disorders.
We use the most sophisticated techniques currently available in the diagnosis, and treatment of these disorders. Our patients are offered a full gamut of treatment options from medical management including new medication trials to the full scope of surgical treatments for these conditions including Deep Brain Stimulation, MRI guided Neurosurgery, and Gamma Knife Radiosurgery.
Our board certified and fellowship trained physicians treat the following conditions :
Parksinson’s disease and other movement Disorders
Movement disorders are a group of conditions affecting one’s control over movements. Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, dystonia, and spasticity are all considered part of this group of disorders. The lack of control as a result of these conditions could be as subtle as a slight tremor, or as profound as an inability to walk. A movement disorders specialist is the best person to properly diagnose and treat these conditions. HackensackUMC offers comprehensive and state of the art treatment for all patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, dystonia, and spasticity. Our staff are fellowship trained physicians dedicated to the treatment of all movement disorders and offer a comprehensive approach to treatment from initial consultation services for medical management to various surgical treatments including deep brain stimulation. In addition HackensackUMC is the currently the only center in the tristate area to offer MRI guided DBS surgeries for patients suffering from these conditions.
Chronic Pain Syndromes
The Center for Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery is intimately involved with the physicians in the Pain and Palliative center at HUMC to provide the full gamut of surgical options to those suffering from various pain syndromes including trigeminal neuralgia, and other facial pains, cluster headaches, occipital, and frontal neuralgias, RSD, and pain caused by cancer. We strive to offer compassionate and expert care to patients suffering from these conditions.
Trigeminal Neuralgia
Patients with trigeminal neuralgia and other facial pain syndromes are fully assessed and treated with a plan tailored specifically to them. The treatments offered include microvascular decompression, glycerol rhizotomy, neurectomy , Gamma Knife radiosurgery, and trigeminal and motor cortex stimulation for more difficult to manage pain syndromes.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
The Center for Functional and Restorative neurosurgery is intimately involved with the physicians in the department of psychiatry for the multidisciplinary and comprehensive care of patients suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. HUMC is currently one of the few regional centers offering expertise in deep brain stimulation surgery for the treatment of this condition.
Epilepsy
The physicians at HUMC offer world class expertise in the diagnosis and multimodal treatment of those suffering from epilepsy.
Education and Outreach
As part of our mission, we strive to inform and educate patients, their caretakers as well as other physicians regarding these disorders and the available treatment options. We conduct frequent education seminars for patients and their caretakers, and run a support group. We also offer hands on and didactic courses for physicians for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders.
Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)
Deep Brain Stimulation is a surgical treatment for Parkinson’s Disease, essential tremor and dystonia. It has been FDA approved in the US since 1997 and there have been over 85,000 implants performed worldwide for the treatment of movement disorders. DBS can be thought of as a brain pacemaker. The surgery entails placing a small wire in the area of the brain affected, the wire is then passed under the skin down to the chest where the pacemaker is implanted. This brain pacemaker system, continuously delivers an electrical stimulus to the affected regions of the brain. The electrical pulse is small and is not felt by the patient, however it is able to affect the activity of the brain to improve the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
MRI guided DBS
HackensackUMC is among a few centers nationally to offer MRI guided DBS surgery for movement disorders. This revolutionary technique allows us to be able to perform DBS surgeries with real-time, live MRI guidance, while patients are under complete general anesthesia. Not every patient is a candidate for this type of surgery so please inquire about this technique during your movement disorders consultation.
For more information, please contact the Department of Neurosurgery at 551-996-3221.