The Department of Neurological Surgery at Ucsf
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the department of 1 neurological surgery at ucsf 2012 year in review University of California San Francisco Neurological Surgery letter from the chair Dear Colleagues: quality and cost analysis studies (page 23). A recent analysis done in conjunction In these pages you will find some of this with their colleagues in the Department year’s major accomplishments from the of Orthopaedic Surgery revealed that Department of Neurological Surgery at for surgeries planned to be performed UCSF. A new national clinical trial for a over two or more stages, the later stages brain tumor vaccine developed by Dr. are categorized as readmissions under Andrew Parsa (page 4). A new program the “all-cause readmissions” metric to streamline multidisciplinary care for used by Medicare. With the launch of patients with sports concussions and brain Medicare’s new program to penalize injuries (page 8). A new laser treatment medical institutions based on readmission protocol for medically refractory epilepsy rates, this will be an important issue for (page 12). But I would particularly like to government to address. note the outstanding progress made by contents our Quality and Safety Program, led by Dr. Patient satisfaction is also a critical Brain Tumor Center 3 Catherine Lau (page 26). The efforts of this part of evaluating care, and I would program resulted in a 2012 Healthgrades like to congratulate our adult neuro- Brain & Spinal Injury Center 8 Neurosurgery Excellence Award, oncology team for winning the UCSF Vascular Neurosurgery 10 recognizing the best in patient safety. Medical Center’s Pinnacle Award for an unprecedented fifth year in a row. The I am also honored to be serving as the Epilepsy 12 Pinnacle Award recognizes the outpatient 81st president of the American Association service with the highest patient satisfaction Movement Disorders 15 of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), which scores. The neuro-oncology team has has provided me with a platform to Pediatric also been joined by a remarkable group of address quality and safety in neurosurgery Neurosurgery 17 philanthropists, led by Randi Murray, Cathy at a national level. Podell, and Marritje Greene, in creating Center for Management & This year, the NeuroPoint Alliance a new program aimed at supporting Surgery of Peripheral – established by the AANS in 2008 – caregivers (page 3). The importance of Nerve Disorders 20 began the pilot program for the National providing support for caregivers of patients Surgical Neurosurgery Quality and Outcomes with serious or terminal illness cannot be Pain Management Program 22 Database (N2Q0D). The purpose of this overemphasized. The Caregiver Program database is to track quality of surgical will provide one-on-one support from a Neurospinal Disorders 23 care for the most common neurosurgical social worker trained specifically to guide Neurosurgery Patient Safety procedures, as well as provide practice families suffering with the diagnosis of a & Quality Improvement Program 26 groups and hospitals with an infrastructure brain tumor. for prospective data collection and I am very proud of the work done this UCSF Neurological Surgery self-assessment. The Department of year to make the experience for patients Community Extension Program 28 Neurological Surgery at UCSF is one of 28 and their families the best it can be. groups participating in the pilot program. Center for Neural That mission will continue to drive Engineering & Prostheses at In addition to allowing us to compare everything we do in the Department UC Berkeley/San Francisco 29 the relative effectiveness of therapies of Neurological Surgery. and related quality-of-life measures, Department of the N2QOD will be critical for justifying Neurological Surgery payment for neurosurgical procedures in a new era of healthcare that will heavily University of California, weight quality and performance. For better San Francisco or worse, the medical community as a 505 Parnassus Ave., whole needs to begin gathering robust Room 779 M data that provide evidence for the value of Mitchel S. Berger, MD, FACS, FAANS San Francisco, CA our interventions to insurance companies 94143-0112 and lawmakers. We also need to ensure Kathleen M. Plant Distinguished Professor that we are involved in defining the and Chairman Phone: (415) 353-7500 benchmarks for success. Fax: (415) 353-2889 Department of In the Department of Neurological Surgery, Neurological Surgery neurosurgery.ucsf.edu our neurospinal disorders group has become especially involved in performing Director, UCSF Design & layout: Victoria Maier Magbilang, Brain Tumor Center Aqua Design Studio Illustration: Kenneth Xavier Probst Photography: Cindy Chew, Marco Sanchez, Frank Tapia, Anne Garrity, Ilona Garner Principal editor: Ilona Garner [email protected] brain tumor center faculty 3 Adult Neuro-Oncology Nicholas Butowski MD Susan Chang MD Jennifer Clarke MD, MPH Michael Prados MD Adult Brain Tumor Surgery Manish Aghi MD, PhD Mitchel Berger MD Brain Tumor Center supporters Randi Murray, Marritje Greene, Ira Glass, and Cathy Podell. Edward Chang MD “We are so grateful for the tireless efforts of this dedicated group Sandeep Kunwar MD of philanthropists. Without fundraising it is difficult to establish Michael McDermott MD programs specifically aimed at providing support to caregivers. Andrew Parsa MD, PhD Their work will make the road easier for other families dealing Neuropsychology with the diagnosis of a brain tumor.” Caroline Racine PhD – Susan Chang, director of neuro-oncology California Center for Pituitary Disorders Brain Tumor Center at patients with brain tumors treated at UCSF. Family members are often overwhelmed Manish Aghi MD, PhD UCSF Establishes Program by the emotional toll and responsibility that Lewis Blevins, Jr. MD for Caregivers with Support comes with caring for a loved one with a from Dedicated Donors brain tumor. By providing them with the Sandeep Kunwar MD resources and support that they need, and Activists patients often have better outcomes. On April 21, 2012 Ira Glass, host and producer of National Public Radio’s “This Neuro-Oncology Service American Life,” talked to supporters of the Enters UCSF ‘Hall of Fame’ UCSF Brain Tumor Center about the loss of for Patient Satisfaction his brother-in-law Gordon Murray to brain cancer at a benefit that raised $1.2 million The Neuro-Oncology Service was given to establish a new program to help patient the UCSF Medical Center Pinnacle Award caregivers. “I know how lucky we were for an unprecedented fifth year in a row, that he was able to receive the outstanding making it the first service to be inducted care he did at UCSF,” said Mr. Glass. “It into the Pinnacle Award Hall of Fame. really is an extraordinary institution.” The Pinnacle Award recognizes the UCSF medical service with the best patient The fundraising efforts were led by Mr. satisfaction scores for outpatient care. Glass’ sister Randi Murray, Cathy and Mike Podell, and Marritje and Jamie Greene. The money raised will fund three years of operations costs that includes a dedicated social worker to assist the caregivers of The Division of Neuro-Oncology consistently receives top scores for patient satisfaction. faculty Research Laboratories brain tumor center Manish Aghi MD, PhD Oncolytic viral therapies; 4vascular biology of glioma Aruturo Alvarez-Buylla PhD Developmental neuroscience; National, Randomized effectiveness of bevacizumab or the stem cell biology Phase II Clinical Trial of vaccine alone. The trial will be conducted through the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Krystof Bankiewicz MD, PhD Heat-Shock Protein Oncology – a national cooperative group Drug delivery strategies; gene therapy Vaccine for Brain Tumors funded by the National Cancer Institute. Arnau Benet MD In a multicenter phase 2 clinical trial, a Initial funding for the trial was derived in Surgical anatomy; novel surgical brain cancer vaccine tailored to individual part from UCSF’s Specialized Program approaches patients by purifying heat shock proteins of Research Excellence (SPORE) for from their own tumors has proven effective brain tumors, which has been continually Mitchel Berger MD at extending their lives by several months awarded to the Brain Tumor Research Brain mapping; molecular and or longer. Center by the NCI since 2002. genetic basis of brain tumors The trial was initiated by principal During the most recent funding cycle of Gabriele Bergers PhD investigator Andrew Parsa MD, PhD, the SPORE grant, Dr. Parsa and BTRC Angiogenesis; tumor invasion who worked to develop the personalized principal investigator Russell Pieper PhD Soonmee Cha MD vaccines with biotechnology company examined the role of the brain tumor Neuroimaging Agenus, Inc. The results were presented microenvironment in modulating tumor this year in a plenary session at the annual vaccine efficacy. Their work has shown Joseph Costello PhD meeting of the American Association of that the tumor is not only influenced Functional genomics Neurological Surgeons. by the microenvironment, but actively Nalin Gupta MD, PhD manipulates it to support its own survival. The trial found that the vaccine, given to Pediatric brain tumors; more than 40 patients, extended survival Drs. Pieper and Parsa discovered cell-cell interactions by several months when compared that the immunosuppressive surface Daphne Haas-Kogan MD to 80 other patients who were treated protein B7-H1, which is overexpressed Cell signaling; genetic mutations; at the same hospitals and received in most glioblastoma cells,