Dr. Kenan Arnautovic was voted in as one of seven 2nd Vice Presidents for the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies.

The World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) is a professional, scientific, non-governmental organization comprising of 130 member societies, consisting of 5 Continental Associations, 119 National Neurosurgical Societies and 6 Affiliate Societies, representing over 30,000 neurosurgeons worldwide.  WFNS aspires to promote global improvement in neurosurgical care. The mission of the WFNS is to work together with our member societies to improve worldwide neurosurgical care, training and research to benefit our patients.

We are proud to have one of our very own represent such a prestigious and influential organization that strives to better neurosurgical care around the globe.

Read more here

We are very pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Kyle Smith to our team of expert doctors. 

Dr. Smith maintains special interests in complex spine, minimally-invasive spine surgery, and cranial and spinal tumor surgery. He performs outpatient spine procedures and manages operative and non-operative treatment of spine and brain disorders. We are excited to have him join our staff and add his expertise to our patient care services.

Click the link below to read more about Dr. Smith!

Kevin Foley, MD, is the chairman of Semmes Murphey Clinic and director of complex spine surgery at Semmes Murphey.

His practice focuses on minimally invasive surgery, robotics, and disc regeneration. He has written more than 35 book chapters and has 125-plus scientific journal publications. He has also invested in several medical devices and been issued 150 patents. Earlier this year, Dr. Foley received the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Cushing Award for Technical Excellence and Innovation in Neurosurgery.

Here, he shares key thoughts on the most exciting technology to watch and how the spine field is evolving.

Question: What emerging technology are you most interested in today and why?

Dr. Kevin Foley: I am interested in technologies that have the potential to improve upon various aspects of contemporary spine surgery, especially those that can add value by improving the quality of spine surgery at a competitive cost. For example, I am involved in the development of progenitor cells derived from human disc tissue to treat degenerative disc disease and postpone or avoid fusion, ultrasonic imaging combined with artificial intelligence-enhanced algorithms to detect critical neural structures and prevent damage to these structures, a bioresorbable, osteoconductive, wet-field mineral-organic bone adhesive to repair and enhance bony structures and improve spinal fixation in poor quality bone, an improved means of generating intraoperative three-dimensional images, and a cost-effective spinal robotic system.

Q: How do you think your practice will change in the next three years? What are you doing today to prepare?

KF: Over the next year or two, my practice will likely change incrementally. Already, for example, the majority of my spinal surgery cases are performed minimally invasively and over half are performed in our surgery center. This trend will continue and slowly increase. Beyond that near term, I expect to see more significant changes in reimbursement, continued pressures on providers to lower costs and risk-share, the adoption of the above and other new technologies, especially if they improve the value of care and/or address previously unmet clinical needs, and increasing involvement of physicians in managing the healthcare system. We are the key drivers of improved value.

We are doing several things at Semmes-Murphey Clinic to prepare for the future. We have entered into co-management agreements with the two largest regional healthcare systems, we are constructing a prospective bundle of our services to market to businesses, and we continue to emphasize and measure quality. In that regard, we have been major contributors to the Quality Outcomes Database and will be a vanguard site for the newly organized AANS-AAOS American Spine Registry.

Q: What is the most dangerous trend in healthcare, spine or orthopedics today and why?

KF: I believe the most dangerous trend in healthcare has been the tendency of too many physicians not to get involved in the management of the field. Delivering quality patient care can be time-consuming and exhausting, but we ignore the management of healthcare delivery at our peril and ultimately, to the detriment of our patients.

This article was written by Laura Dyrda with Becker's Healthcare Online

Dr. Adam Arthur is on a mission to get FDA approval for a new procedure that can prevent stroke-causing ruptures in the brain. 

“In Memphis, we are right in the middle of what we call the stroke belt,” Arthur said. “I really think it’s great we are doing things to reduce the risk and morbidity of patients who are at risk of stroke.”  

In 2018, Arthur was beginning a clinical trial of a new product so AVF patients can potentially have a way of stopping a leak before it causes a stroke - AVFs are found in the dura mater around the brain. The new product is called PHIL Liquid Embolic System, or PHIL for short, which stands for Precipitating Hydrophobic Injectable Liquid. The substance was invented in California by Microvention-Terumo Inc. and has been tested at the Medical Education & Research Institute (MERI), across the street from Methodist University Hospital. 

Instead of cranial surgery, PHIL is a paste-like substance that can block or close the AVF using catheterization, or a long thin tube that is inserted in a vein and threaded through to the affected blood vessel. The products on the market today require surgeons to mix the vessel-filling paste with iodine, which can leak out over time creating an artifact, or shine, on future CT scans and MRI images. Iodine is bonded onto the chemical backbone used in PHIL, so it is less likely to leak and visible to the surgeon at the time of injection using X-ray guidance.

The first patient in Tenessee received the new procedure in December 2018. Dr. Arthur is hopeful that this new product will receive FDA approval in the coming years.

This is a summary from The Daily Memphian. Read the full article here.