Conjoined Twin Separation Surgery

Neuro Alert was proud to be part of the surgical team that successfully separated conjoined baby girls at the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, Westchester.

Read more about this incredible separation story here.

“It was an absolute honor and privilege to have been a part of this amazing conjoined twins separation surgery. One of the most intense and incredible moment was when the final cut was made to separate the last filum that connected the spinal cords, and we informed the surgeons that our MEPs and SEP were still intact, in each twin!  I am so immensely proud of our IONM team and all the teams that contributed their hard efforts towards these two miracles.”

“I was proud to be a part of the IONM team during the separation of conjoined twins.  The twins were joined at the sacrum/hip and the ends of their spinal cords were fused together. This was an interesting fact because we found crossover from the motor and sensory fibers from one twin‘s spinal cord to the other twins lower extremity for each twin.  We monitored the motor and sensory tracts using TcMEPs and SSEPs respectively…

The separation of the nervous system took about 6 hours.  The surgeons separated the bony structures first including the pelvis and sacrum. Then they opened the dura which covers the spinal cords and separated the spinal cords.  Once that was completed they closed the dura around each separated spinal cord for each twin.  Such an amazing experience to be in that room with so many professionals working towards this goal to give both twins a normal life.”

The Butterfly Foundation

Neuro Alert’s dedication to the field of IONM has made us a proud supporter of The Butterfly Foundation, a non-profit organization that dedicates treatment to underprivileged children around the globe who suffer spinal deformities. Our Chief Clinical Advisor and members of our Surgical Neurophysiology team have dedicated countless volunteer hours to providing neuromonitoring to ensure the safety of children, worldwide.

“Butterfly Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Dr. Andrew Moulton to bring ‘deformity-focused academic spine surgeons and comprehensive teams to developing countries to teach local spine surgeons through didactics, work-shops, and surgery on local patients.’ In November, 2016, through the generous support of Neuro Alert, I was fortunate to join them for a spine surgery mission to Mandalay Orthopaedic Hospital in Mandalay, Myanmar (formerly Burma). Myanmar is an emerging nation in southeast Asia with limited resources for detecting and treating spinal deformities. 25 patients were screened and selected as candidates for our mission. We were able to operate on a total of 15 patients in 5 days, with the remainder hopeful to receive treatment in future missions. The extent of the spinal deformities in our patients, and the concomitant aggressive corrections required, made intraoperative neuromonitoring essential. The full array of modalities was delivered in order to provide the most comprehensive care possible. With this monitoring, excellent correction and stabilization was achieved in our patient set.

Prior to the beginning of  the surgical mission, I was invited to present a lecture at the 48th Annual Myanmar Orthopaedic Society conference, entitled ‘Neuromonitoring during Spine Surgery.’ Surgeons from throughout Asia were in attendance, and many expressed their appreciation for my overview of neuromonitoring as it related to spine operations. I was honored and grateful to be a participant in both the academic conference as well as the surgical mission, working with a dedicated team of professionals to provide world-class care to an economically-challenged population, and am very appreciative to Neuro Alert for their enthusiastic and heartfelt support.”

Christopher Martin has been involved with IONM for the past 25 years in both academic and private settings. He has presented at national (ASNM, ASET, AORN, TxANA) and international (ISIN-Switzerland, SANS-Saudi Arabia) conferences and has published many articles and chapters on the field.

 

 

“The Butterfly Foundation’s mission trip to Myanmar  was truly a unique experience. It was my first time in Asia and first time working outside of the United States After a 36 hour trip from JFK to Mandalay, we were welcomed by the Mandalay surgical team with a traditional Myanmar style lunch, followed by some sightseeing of Mandalay Hill and the downtown area. After a good night’s rest it was straight to work. Our days were filled with complex scoliosis cases and long hours, but nights were used to socialize, unwind and re-energize and plan for the morning ahead. Witnessing the graditude of the patient, their family, the community, and medical team was heartwarming. Hope that this was the 1st of many mission trips.”

Awa Ndiaye is a Surgical Neurophysiologist and is an integral part of the Neuro Alert Clinical Team. She posesses a deep understanding of the IONM field, which is why she recently joined Rose Auerbach as an Education Associate and will be training new clinicians as part of her responsibilities.