SUCCESS RECORD OF SURGICAL TEAM OFFERS PATIENTS ADVANCED TREATMENT AND HIGHER CHANCE TO RECAPTURE FUNCTION AND COSMETIC AESTHETICS FOLLOWING COMPLEX CRANIO-FACIAL SURGERY
With
the appointment of Chandranath Sen, M.D.,
as Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery, and Co-Director of the
Center for Cranial Base Surgery, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center
(SLR) launches a new era in the neurosurgical treatment of cranial base
tumors and other complex neurosurgical problems. Tumors of the skull base
-- including craniofacial tumors, and tumors behind or beneath the nose
or eyes -- are hard-to-reach, and generally represent such formidable
surgical challenges that many surgeons consider such lesions to be inoperable.
Dr. Sen, also Interim
Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Beth Israel Medical Center,
is one of the world's most accomplished neurosurgeons in this intricate,
highly challenging specialty. His skills enable most patients to emerge
from these challenging surgeries with fewer complications and a higher
chance of recapturing function and cosmetic aesthetics. Dr. Sen is also
highly experienced in surgery for acoustic neuromas, and treatment of
trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm.
Dr. Sen is formerly
Professor and Vice Chairman of Neurosurgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center.
He and his colleagues Noel I. Perin, M.D., FRCS (Ed), FACS, and Peter
D. Costantino, M.D., FACS (otolaryngology), also formerly of Mount Sinai,
will work as a coordinated team, providing superb medical care while continuing
innovative research to advance the neurosurgical field. "Our vision
is to create an advanced, interdisciplinary neurosurgical department at
SLR," says Dr. Sen, "where we can provide patients with state-of-the-art
treatment of brain and skull base tumors and many other neurosurgical
problems, and restore their quality of life by returning function
and facial aesthetics. We will work closely with Beth Israel's Institute
of Neurology & Neurosurgery (INN) to provide world-class comprehensive
neurosurgical care."
Noel
I. Perin, M.D.: Minimally Invasive Spine Center
St.
Luke's-Roosevelt's expanded neurosurgical services will encompass a Minimally
Invasive Spine Center under Dr. Perin, Director of Spine Surgery. He is
a pioneer in developing closed, endoscopic surgical techniques for treatment
of the spine and spinal cord, including traumatic, neoplastic, degenerative,
congenital and inflammatory conditions. Dr. Perin also among the world's
few surgeons to perform endoscopic thoracic surgery, resulting in less
post-operative pain and faster recovery time. He is formerly Associate
Professor of Neurosurgery and Director of Spinal Surgery at the Mount
Sinai School of Medicine and at New York University.
Peter
D. Costantino, M.D.: Cranio-Facial Reconstruction and Otolaryngology
Cranial base
surgery can involve removing the patient's eye sockets, cheeks, nose and/or
mouth to reach the tumor. The skull base houses many cranial nerves that
are responsible for functions such as sight, movement of the eye, swallowing,
facial sensations and movement, hearing, balance, mastication and phonation,
any of which may be adversely affected by tumors. An important aspect
of tumor treatment is return of the patient to optimal function and cosmetics
aesthetics.
Dr. Costantino,
Co-Director of SLR's new Center for Cranial Base Surgery, is an expert
in facial re-assemblage and optimal restoration of function and cosmetic
aesthetics. He is recognized as a world leader in the field of head and
neck oncology and has made numerous contributions to the otolaryngology
specialty. Dr. Costantino excels in cranial defect and facial reconstruction
involving implants and micro-vascular surgery of the jaw, mid-face and
palate. Dr. Costantino was formerly co-director of the Cranial Base Surgery
Program in the departments of otolaryngology and neurosurgery at the Mount
Sinai School of Medicine, as well as associate professor of neurosurgery
and oral and maxillofacial surgery. He is Joint Council Certified in Head
and Neck Surgery and in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Tissue Engineering
As
a leading researcher in the field of tissue engineering, Dr. Costantino
has developed biomaterials: synthetic tissues that combine with the patient's
own bone growth enzymes to generate new bone. He has spearheaded the invention
and development of two new reconstructive implants that have contributed
to functional and aesthetic restoration of patients worldwide. One material
is Hydroxyapatite cement, which can be likened to a plaster of paris compound,
and is used as a foundation for bone regeneration, facilitating previously
impossible cranio-facial repairs and reconstruction. The other is a unique
soft tissue implant (a highly processed acellular dermis) that is ultimately
replaced by living soft tissues as blood vessels grow into the edges of
the implant. The benefits of these innovations include quick response
of the patient's internal healing system, lower disease rate, and dramatically
reduced external scar formation and oral deformity. Dr. Costantino is
also the first surgeon to regrow a missing segment of jawbone in a human
using distraction osteogenesis.
Facial Nerve Rehabilitation
Dr.
Costantino's expertise also focuses on facial nerve rehabilitation following
cranial-facial surgery, and also for patients with nerve disorders resulting
from stroke, Bell's Palsy, acoustic neuroma, trauma and congenital problems.
Treatable disorders include facial paralysis, eye movement problems and
cosmetic rehabilitation.
St. Luke's-Roosevelt
Hospital Center
St. Luke's-Roosevelt
Hospital Center has a rich tradition of serving the community for more
than one hundred years. As a major teaching hospital of Columbia University
College of Physicians and Surgery, the hospital provides a full continuum
of care. A founding member of Continuum Health Partners, its patients
benefit from the vast network of clinical and administrative resources
available through an extraordinary partnership with Beth Israel Medical
Center, Long Island College Hospital and New York Eye & Ear Infirmary.
Dr. Sen and his team will work closely with their colleagues at Beth Israel's
Institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery (The INN), one of the world's
leading centers for the diagnosis and treatment of complex neurosurgical
and neuralgic problems.
Information
For more information about the Center for Cranial Base Surgery, or
the Minimally Invasive Spine Center at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center,
please call (212) 523-6720/Fax: (212) 523-6115. The office is located
at: 425 West 59 Street, NY, NY.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Chandranath
Sen, M.D.
Dr.
Sen is a diplomate of the American Board of Neurological Surgery, and
a member of numerous professional associations, including the Congress
of Neurological Surgeons, the New York State Neurological Society and
the Joint Section on Tumors of the American Association of Neurological
Surgeons. He founded and currently serves as director-at-large for the
North American Skull Base Society. He has developed novel surgical techniques
for the treatment of complex cranial base tumors and other issues.
Having worked
extensively with the pioneer of microvascular decompression, Dr. Peter
Jannetta, Dr. Sen is highly experienced and has done innovative research
in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm. After attending
medical school at MS University in Baroda, India, Dr. Sen completed a
surgical internship in New Jersey at Middlesex General Hospital and Robert
Wood Johnson Memorial Hospital. He followed this with general surgery
and neurological surgery residencies at the University of Wisconsin Hospital,
a microneurosurgery fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh, Presbyterian
University Hospital in Pittsburgh, and a visiting fellowship at National
Hospitals for Nervous Disorders in London.
Noel
I. Perin, M.D., FRCS (Ed), FACS
Dr. Perin has international training in neurosurgery and orthopedics.
He received his M.D. from the University of Sri Lanka (Colombo) and post-graduate
training in the United Kingdom, serving first as house officer in general
surgery in the Chelmsford Hospitals in Essex, England, then as a fellow
in neurosurgery at the Middlesex Hospital in London. He completed a residency
in neurosurgery at New York University Medical Center, followed by a combined
neurosurgical and orthopedic fellowship at NYU in spinal surgery. He completed
training in elective spinal neurosurgery at the Praacelsus Klinik in Osnerbrook,
Germany. Before joining Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Dr. Perin was Assistant
Professor of Neurosurgery and Director, Neuro-trauma at the University
of Cincinnati Mayfield Neurological Institute. He was certified by the
American Association of Neurological Surgeons in 1995, and has served
on their spine section scientific and credentialing committees.
Peter
D. Costantino, M.D., FACS
Dr.
Costantino graduated Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago,
where he also completed a surgical internship, residencies in otolaryngology
and general surgery, and an American Cancer Society fellowship in head
and neck surgical oncology and reconstructive surgery. He followed with
a second fellowship in cranial base surgery at the University of Pittsburgh
Medical School. He is Board Certified in Otolaryngology Head and Neck
Surgery and in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Dr. Costantino is a two-time recipient of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Ira Tresley Award, and the Plastic Surgery Education Foundation Millard Award, presented for the most outstanding research in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery. His clinical research achievements to date include the first application of cellular dermis for the repair of dural defects and for soft tissue defects in humans. He is also the co-developer of Hydroxyapatite cement for cranio-facial reconstruction.