Patient Care

The Cerebrovascular Center, headed by Steven Giannotta, MD, leads the nation in experience with operative management of aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations. Our team of endovascularly trained neurosurgeons and interventional neuroradiologists also treats cavernous malformations, hemifacial spasms, stroke/transient ischemic attack and trigeminal neuralgia.

The USC Comprehensive Epilepsy Center is the largest surgical treatment program on the West Coast and has been designated by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers as a Level 4 epilepsy specialist center, which positions USC as a center of care for the most complex cases. Charles Yu Liu, MD, PhD, is the center’s director. In addition to patient care, research and education are key components of its mission to improve knowledge of and find a cure for epilepsy.

The Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorder Center is the most comprehensive center in Southern California for Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders. Our department works with a multidisciplinary neurosciences team to deliver the highest-quality care to ensure the most successful patient outcomes. As a National Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence, we are home to the largest clinical trials program in Southern California for Parkinson’s disease and dystonia.

Brain and spinal tumors come in a great variety of types, each requiring a different approach to treatment that may require medical, surgical or radiation-based intervention. As a result, an effective neuro-oncology program requires close collaboration and expertise in all of these therapeutic modalities. Our department works in close collaboration with colleagues at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center to provide exemplary patient care and develop novel therapies.

The multidisciplinary USC Neurorestoration Center designs strategies to restore injured or diseased nervous system function — caused by Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and other neurological issues — by developing new technologies that harness advances in basic neuroscience and neural engineering. The center is a collaborative effort across numerous, stellar institutions in Southern California, from neural engineering research at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the California Institute of Technology to clinical programs at Keck Medicine of USC and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center. Charles Liu, MD, PhD, serves as director and Christianne Heck, MD, serves as co-director.

Mark Krieger, MD, director and chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, serves as director of the Pediatric NeuroSurgery Center. The center offers comprehensive services for pediatric patients with brachial plexus injuries and peripheral nerve disorders, including electromyography testing, orthopedics, plastic surgery and rehabilitation in addition to neurosurgery.

The Peripheral Nerve Surgery Center provides comprehensive care for a variety of peripheral nerve pathologies. John Peter Gruen, MD, leads an interdisciplinary team devoted to the optimal care of patients with nerve disorders and develops innovations in minimally invasive surgery, radiosurgery and pain management.

The Pituitary Disorders Center is a unique clinical and academic program dedicated to the treatment and evaluation of patients with disorders affecting the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. The center provides a cutting-edge, multidisciplinary approach to patient care under the leadership of neurosurgeon Gabriel Zada, MD, and neuroendocrinologist John D. Carmichael, MD. It is staffed by a team of experts in neurosurgery, neuroendocrinology, neuroradiology, neuropathology, neuro-ophthalmology, radiation oncology and interventional endovascular neurosurgery, who provide high-quality clinical care and conduct research in genetic analysis, precision treatment and comprehensive management of pituitary tumors and related disorders. Patients with refractory or complex pituitary conditions may also participate in the center’s clinical trials.

The Radiosurgery Center, led by Gabriel Zada, MD, has been the nation’s preeminent radiosurgical center for more than four decades, and continues to innovate in the application of radiosurgical treatments for brain, spine and systemic diseases. The multidisciplinary center includes neurosurgeons, a radiation oncologist, physicists and medical oncologists, and uses cutting-edge radiosurgery capabilities, including the most advanced Gamma Knife and Cyberknife and TrueBeam technologies.

The Skull Base Surgery Center is a collaboration of the Department of Neurological Surgery, the Caruso Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and the Department of Surgery’s plastic and reconstructive surgery program. By merging the expertise of these distinct disciplines, the center maximizes the effectiveness of surgeries to resect lesions of the skull base. The center takes a team approach to treat:

• Complex meningiomas
• Head and neck cancers
• Chordomas
• Chondrosarcomas
• Cholesterol granulomas
• Epidermoids
• Facial nerve tumors
• Glomus jugulare tumors
• Giant or complex cerebral aneurysms
• Arteriovenous fistulae, including carotid cavernous fistulae
• Cerebrospinal fluid leaks

Led by Patrick C. Hsieh, MD, and working in close collaboration with the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, the USC Spine Center provides state-of-the-art treatment of spine disease and trains residents and fellows in minimally invasive surgeries, including endoscopic-assisted procedures. The center’s expertise includes complex spine reconstruction for deformity, trauma and en bloc spinal tumor excision. In addition to a highly trained surgical team, the program also includes a multidisciplinary, non-operative protocol using physical therapy, occupational therapy, orthotics, pain management, physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Led by Peter Gruen, MD, the Traumatic Brain Injury Center works in conjunction with the NeuroTrauma Center at Los Angeles General Medical Center to provide excellent, culturally sensitive, patient-centered care, as well as educate residents and fellows and contribute peer-recognized research to the brain and spine injury.