Post angioplasty and stent placement (picture right) with complete restoration of blood flow to the brain. Patient recovered completely.

8/23/2010- NorthShore University HealthSystem (NorthShore) announced today the launch of the NorthShore Neurological Institute (NNI), which is comprised of over 50 specialists providing innovative medical and surgical care for a vast range of brain and spine conditions.  To create the Institute, NorthShore invested in top minds to build a comprehensive team of leading physicians.

Neurologist Demetrius Maraganore, M.D., and Neurosurgeon Theodore Eller, M.D., serve as co-directors of the Institute.

Internationally recognized for research into the genetic origins of neurologic disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Dr. Maraganore joined the staff from Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where he conducted ground-breaking genetic research.

“The breadth and the depth of knowledge at the NorthShore Neurological Institute will position us as a destination center for any and all brain and spine conditions, including the most complex cases,” Dr. Maraganore said.

NorthShore’s history of excellence in neurological care was further enhanced in December 2009 with the acquisition of 18 physicians led by leading neurosurgeon Leonard Cerullo, M.D.

“We have a very large reservoir of neurosurgery talent and we cover nearly the entire spectrum of neurosurgical disorders,” said Dr. Eller.

“The NorthShore Neurological Institute complements our renowned team of specialists across every discipline. We are committed to providing the very best care and by building this Institute we have ensured that our patients will have immediate access to the highest levels of neurological expertise,” said Mark Neaman, President and Chief Executive Officer of NorthShore University HealthSystem.

NNI is committed to providing superior access and the highest quality neurological care. With sites across Chicagoland and a nationally recognized electronic medical record, the NNI is dedicated to providing a seamless patient experience as it fosters an environment of inquiry, medical education, and clinical research.

In a recent two-and-a-half-hour procedure, Thomas J. Grobelny MD, of the medical center’s Neurosciences Institute, led a team in use of the substance to eliminate an aneurysm from the petrous-cavernous carotid artery on the right side of a patient’s head.

Called Onyx(R)HD 500, the glue-like liquid is delivered through a micro-catheter, a thin, tube-like device that has been threaded through a patient’s blood vessels to the site of the aneurysm. The liquid, which hardens upon contact with blood and other body fluids, is used to fill the aneurysm, effectively sealing it off by blocking the flow of blood to it.

The Onyx(R) material is intended for use with large aneurysms or those having wide openings, called “necks.”

Aneurysms form when a weakness in a blood vessel wall causes the vessel to balloon out and form a thin-walled, blood-filled pouch. If this pouch, or sac, develops in a brain blood vessel and bursts, a patient can sustain a devastating, even lethal, stroke as blood floods the brain tissue, said Dr. Grobelny.

Dr. Grobelny is a neurointerventionalist, namely a physician specializing in minimally invasive, endovascular neurosurgery.

The neurointerventional surgery team at Advocate Christ Medical Center has been a regional leader in the application of innovative, minimally invasive treatments for removal of brain aneurysms.

Just last year, the medical center became one of the first Chicago area institutions and only one in the Advocate Health Care system to use a specialized stent — the CORDIS ENTERPRISE(TM) Vascular Reconstruction Device and Delivery System. The advanced tool enables physicians to block off a brain aneurysm that has a wide neck separating it from the main blood vessel and to hold in place wire coils positioned inside the aneurysm. The wire coils facilitate clot formation, thereby stopping blood flow to the aneurysm and reducing the risk of rupture.

Also in 2007, the same team, under Dr. Grobelny’s leadership, achieved another “first” for the south and southwest suburbs and for Advocate Heath Care when it filled a patient’s potentially lethal brain aneurysm with coils that literally swelled up to eight times their original volume. The coils had been coated with a hydrogen polymer, which, in combination with water from surrounding body tissue, caused the coils to swell and fill the aneurysm.

“The highest technological advancements in minimally invasive brain aneurysm surgery are not simply the domain of university-based medical centers. These advancements are important treatment options available at major teaching hospitals like Advocate Christ Medical Center,” Dr. Grobelny stated.

In addition to its expertise in the treatment of brain aneurysms, the Christ Medical Center Neurosciences Institute also is a leader in the treatment of brain vascular malformations and stroke. In fact, last year, the Joint Commission, a national health care accrediting agency, awarded the medical center a two-year certification as a primary stroke center. Certification is given for “exceptional efforts to foster better outcomes for stroke care,” according to the Joint Commission.