The Neurosurgery It is a medical specialty that treats major diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system that require surgery, such as those affecting the brain, spine, spinal cord, and cranial and peripheral nerves. A common example is a cerebral aneurysm, which affects the arteries of the brain and needs to undergo microsurgery or embolization. But because of the risks common to these types of procedures, many patients still fear facing the operating table.
Therefore, knowledge and practice in neuroanatomy are essential for neurosurgeons to perform surgeries safely and obtain results that guarantee excellent treatment, in order to maintain patients’ quality of life.
at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp), doctors from all over the world have found an innovative space to improve their work: the Neurosurgery Micro-Anatomy Laboratory, one of the best-equipped laboratories in the world and the largest in Latin America.
The reference outside the Brazilian border – Coordinated by Ferris Shaddad, Head of the Department of Neurosurgery at the Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM) at Unifesp, it was inaugurated in 2018 with the support and joint efforts of various actors of the university, such as former Dean Soraya Sobhi Smiley, Prof. – Assistant Neurosurgeon Ricardo Centeno and Head of the Pediatric Neurosurgery Service Sergio Cavalero.
The Neurosurgery Microanatomical Laboratory receives six specialists annually through a specialized complementary program for medical specialties called a fellowship.
One such visitor is Kevin Oso Agyemang, a qualified neurosurgeon already based in the United Kingdom (Scotland). He, who has already obtained a residency in his home country, came to improve his skills at Unifesp and will stay here until February 2023. Complex posterior circulation, the use of bypass surgeries and some of the different techniques used by Professor Ferris Chadad, especially in the treatment of arteriovenous malformations.”
state-of-the-art technology What stands out in this project is the high technology available for study and professional development. Shaddad explains that fellows trained in vascular neurology at Unifesp have 21 seats equipped with the latest microscopes, with the goal of trying and improving already established and safe surgical techniques. For theory classes, an amphitheater with a structure for 3D classes is available.
“The knowledge they gain is applied in the treatment of many other neurological diseases, in addition to aneurysms, such as cerebral arteriovenous malformations, cavernosal tumors, angiomas, tumors and epilepsy,” Chadad adds.
“When we thought about setting up this laboratory, one of our goals was to spread knowledge. We can say that this goal has been achieved,” the EPM professor rightly said. Annually, the space receives, in addition to fellows, interns from different parts of Brazil and the world, including, of course, undergraduate and graduate students and Unifesp residents,” celebrates Chaddad.
Recently, with the support of the current Dean of Unifesp, Nelson Sass, and Deputy Dean Raiane Assumpção, the Vascular Neurosurgery Program signed a public-private partnership between EPM/Unifesp and Hospital Beneficência Portugaluesa SPIt is an institution with important social and academic commitment. “This will lead to the exchange of knowledge and resources, contribute to better training of professionals and improve the quality of care provided to the population,” the professor notes.
