Neuroscience

You can rely on the neurosurgeons and neurologists at Saint Vincent hospital. The doctors you see have years of experience — decades in many cases — and are board-certified. They remain fixtures in the community, with well-deserved reputations for leading care.

Together, the neurology and neurosurgery team sees many brain, spine and nerve conditions and provides a range of treatments. We use special image guidance for all brain tumor and operations and for some complex spine surgery.

Neurology at Saint Vincent Hospital

Our neurology services include:

• Botox injections to treat dystonia, a movement disorder
• Stroke assessments and intravenous (IV) injections of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) to dissolve clots and restore blood flow
• Electromyography (EMG) to identify unusual electrical activity in the muscles caused by some neurological diseases

Care for spinal problems

Neurosurgeons at Saint Vincent provide a range of top spinal care:

Spinal disorder treatments

Among other spinal conditions, we treat:

• Herniated disc: The “gel” inside one of the shock absorbers of the back and neck slips out and pushes a nerve.
• Spinal stenosis: The spine narrows, pressuring the spinal cord and nerves.
• Spondylolisthesis: A vertebra slides out of place.

Spinal surgeries

Our spinal surgeries include:

• Discectomies, to remove the herniated part of a disc
• Laminectomies, also known as decompression, to remove part of a vertebra (the lamina) and make more room for the spinal cord and nerves
• Spinal fusions, to join two vertebrae together and relieve pain

Image guidance for complex surgery

Given their experience, our neurosurgeons can perform a range of surgeries using standard approaches. But newer imaging from Medtronic called the O-arm allows them to treat complex cases previously referred to larger, out-of-area medical centers.

The surgeons can bring the new mobile computed tomography (CT) machine into the operating room, then position it around you. This gives them real-time image guidance to check their approach and provide precise treatment. They can tailor scans to each case, to minimize radiation exposure.

Targeting nerves to relieve pain

We provide a number of nerve-related treatments to address chronic pain:

• Electrical nerve stimulation: Special medical devices send electricity to the nerves to disrupt pain signals to the brain. Our devices include:
  • Dorsal column stimulator (DCS), for electricity to certain areas of the spinal cord
  • Peripheral nerve stimulators (PNS), placed next to nerves found outside the brain and spinal cord
  • Dorsal root ganglion (DRG) stimulators, targeting a particular bundle of spinal nerves tied to pain in the hands, chest, abdomen, feet, knees or groin
• Other nerve procedures: Sometimes, surgery is needed to relieve pressure on certain nerves. Our surgeries include:
  • Carpal tunnel surgery, to relieve pressure inside the wrist on the median nerve
  • Space-creating decompressions for the ulnar nerve running from the neck to the hand and the peroneal nerve providing feeling to the legs and feet

Brain tumor surgery

Neurosurgeons at Saint Vincent treat most types of brain tumors. They care for those that start in the brain (glioblastoma, meningioma) and those that spread from cancer elsewhere in the body (metastases).

We use the sophisticated StealthStation™ surgical navigation system from Medtronic for all our brain tumor surgeries. It helps us map out the brain, plan precise treatment and accurately carry out surgery, always aware of the exact positioning of surgical instruments.

Additional neurological care

If you need additional, highly specialized neurological treatment, we work closely with Pittsburgh’s Allegheny General Hospital, a fellow member of the Allegheny Health Network.

Our partnership ensures a smooth and seamless transfer. We can take you by ambulance or, if needed, by helicopter.

Contact us

Call (814) 452-7575 to schedule an appointment or learn more about AHN neuroscience services at Saint Vincent.