Pittsburgh, October 22, 2010 -- The following is a list of presentations given by department faculty at the recent Congress of Neurological Surgeons annual meeting held October 16-21 in San Francisco, CA.

This year's meeting -- themed "A Celebration of Neurosurgery" -- was held at at the Moscone West Convention Center and featured a joint meeting with the Korean Neurosurgical Society.

Founded in 1951, CNS is an industry trade group dedicated to advancing neurosurgery by providing members with the educational and career development opportunities they need to become leaders and innovators in the field. The organization currently boasts a membership of almost 7,000 neurosurgeons worldwide.

Practical Courses

(PC11) "Inpatient and Outpatient Management Dilemmas for Allied Health Care Professionals." Course Directors: Jane JA, Jr., Shaffrey ME, Strayer AL. Faculty: Mummaneni PV, Shaffrey CI, Okonkwo DO, Steinmetz MP, Dumont AS, Elias WJ, Farace E.

Sunday, October 17
8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

(PC17) "Trauma Update (Part I): Traumatic Brain Injury." Course Director: Narayan RK. Faculty: Manley GT, Timmons ST, Okonkwo DO, M. Bullock MR, Shutter LA.

Sunday, October 17
8:00 – 11:30 a.m.

(PC20) “Update on Spinal Deformity Surgery and Principles”
Course Directors: Shaffrey CI, Mummaneni PV. Faculty: Harrop JS, Heary RF, Angevine PD, Okonkwo DO, Kuntz C, IV, Wang MY, Berven S.

Sunday, October 17
8:00 – 11:30 a.m.

(PC 29) “Implementing and Utilizing the New Metastatic Brain Tumor Clinical Practice Guidelines in Everyday Practice.” Course Directors: Linskey ME, Kalkanis SL. Faculty: Ryken TC, Kondziolka DS, Olson JJ, Andrews DW, Asher AL.

Sunday, October 17
12:30 – 4:00 p.m.

(PC30) “Spinal Oncology Update (Part II): Radiosurgery and Adjuvant Therapies.” Course Director: Gerszten PC. Faculty: Bilsky MH, Chang SD, Angelov L, Sheehan JP, Rock J.

Sunday, October 17
12:30 – 4:00 p.m.

(PC35) “Neurocritical Care and Neurosurgical Emergencies Update.” Course Director: Jallo J. Faculty: Okonkwo DO, Madden CJ, Jabbour P, Laske D, Shutter LA.

Sunday, October 17
12:30 – 4:00 p.m.

Scientific Sessions

General Scientific Session I: Neurosurgical Pioneers: Foundation for Future Innovation. Presiding Officer: Getch CC. Moderators: Lonser RR, Steinmetz MP. “Radiosurgery: Pioneers to Future Applications.” Kondziolka DS.

Monday, October 18
7:23 – 7:41 a.m.

General Scientific Session II: Overcoming Obstacles through Understanding of Anatomy and Biology. Presiding Officer: Wolfla CE. Moderators: Rao G, Rezai AR. “Evolution of Concussion Management at the NFL, College, High School and Youth Sport Levels: Overcoming Obstacles.” Maroon JC.

Tuesday, October 19
8:25 – 8:45 a.m.

Section on Neurotrauma and Critical Care: Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Sports-Related Concussion. Moderators: Ghajar J, Dhall SS. “Development and Implementation of Neurocognitive Tests in TBI: High School to NFL.” Maroon JC.

Wednesday, October 20
1:30 – 2:00 p.m.

Luncheon Seminars

(M11) “Vestibular Schwannoma Management.” Moderator: Delashaw JB. Faculty: DeMonte F, Jung S, Kondziolka DS, Parsa AT.

Monday, October 18
12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

(M15) “Surgical, Interventional and Radiosurgical Approaches to Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformations.” Moderator: Bendok BR. Faculty: Batjer HH, Kondziolka DS, Kwon DH, Spetzler RF.

Monday, October 18
12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

(T30) “Sports-Related Spinal and Peripheral Nerve Injuries.” Moderator: Maroon JC. Faculty: Brockmeyer DL, Holly LT, Yoon YS, Winfree CJ.

Tuesday, October 19
12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

Top Ten Abstracts

Section on Neurotrauma and Critical Care. (933) “Comparative Effectiveness of Computed Tomography Alone to Exclude Cervical Spine Injuries in Obtunded or Intubated Patients: A Meta-Analysis of 14,327 Blunt Trauma Patients.” Tomycz ND, Panczykowski DM, Okonkwo DO.

Monday, October 18
1:48 – 1:57 p.m.

Section on Pain. (945) “Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Patients with Trigeminal Neuralgia Associated with Skull Base Meningiomas.” Kano H, Awan NR, Flannery TJ, Flickinger J, Lunsford LD, Kondziolka DS.

Monday, October 18
2:06 – 2:15 p.m.

Section on Neurotrauma and Critical Care. (948) “Management of Symptomatic Intrathecal Catheter-Associated Inflammatory Masses: A Single-Center Experience.” Tomycz ND, Ortiz V, McFadden KA, Urgo L, Moossy JJ.

Monday, October 18
2:33 – 2:42 p.m.

Section on Pediatric Neurological Surgery. (959) “Growth Acceleration following Tethered Cord Release in Symptomatic Children with Tight Filum Terminale Syndrome.” Foster KA, Lam SK, Chang YF, Greene S.

Monday, October 18
2:42 – 2:51 p.m.

Neurosurgical Forum Abstracts

Section on Pain. (Abstract #135) “Hearing Preservation after Microvascular Decompression for Hemifacial Spasm: Elucidating the Role of Intraoperative Brainstem Auditory Evoked Responses in 89 Patients.” Shah A, Horowitz M, Hirsch B, Thirumala PD, Holmes M, Wichman K, Chang YF.

Monday, October 18
3:00 - 4:30 p.m.

Posters

PEG Hydrogel Spinal Sealant as an Adjunct to sutured dural repair in spine: Two IDE, prospective, multicenter, randomized, controlled studies. Kim KD, Brown FD, Chen TC, Cheng, JS, Chesnut R, Chou D, Choudhri HF, Cosgrove R, Delashaw JB, Deutsch H, Ellenbogen RG, Fessler RG, Gerszten PC, Gopinath SP.