Department of Neurosurgery

Introduction

It has been 30 years since the establishment of the Department of Neurosurgery at the Saitama Medical Center in June of 1986. As a core presence in Saitama Prefecture, it has grown to become one of the largest facilities in the country with the number of annual surgeries at over 600 cases. We are proud to be the result of our motto, "Providing the best medical care for our patients."

According to the Japan Neurosurgical Society website, Neurosurgery is defined as "the field of medical treatment that diagnoses and cures diseases that can be primarily treated with surgical treatment of the general nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nervous system and appendages (blood vessels, bones, muscles, etc.)." This targets a variety of neurosymptomatic headaches, consciousness disorders, sudden convulsions, hemiplegia, motor disorders, dizziness, deafness, vision disorders, speech disorders, facial pain, facial spasm, dementia, numbness, etc. By developing a medical team with the Department of Neurology, Otolaryngology, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Psychiatry, Pain Clinic, Pediatrics, Cardiology, and Endocrinology and Diabetes, etc., we are able to support brain and spinal cord diseases, from newborns to the elderly.

We are practicing treatments based on the latest findings with medical treatment for typical diseases such as stroke (subarachnoid hemorrhage, cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral infarction, internal carotid artery stenosis, cerebral arteriovenous malformation, unruptured cerebral aneurysm), brain and spinal tumors, facial spasm, trigeminal neuralgia, and head trauma. We see good results based on a wide range of surgical experience for benign brain tumors such as meningioma, acoustic neuroma, pituitary adenomas and craniopharyngioma, on which we put particular focus among other brain tumors. In the case of malignant brain tumors such as gliomas, we also use monitoring to maintain the quality of life for patients and are increasing the degree of removal to achieve long-term tumor control. We have established the Cerebral Vascular Center from April 2017 in conjunction with the Department of Neurology, and we have treated many cases in t-PA treatments, thrombus recovery, and catheter treatments for cerebral aneurysms. We introduced a Department of Neurosurgery hotline and a prefectural-designated stroke hotline with nearby medical institutions and promptly accept stroke patients.

In this way, we are targeting a wide range of neurosurgical diseases, and we strive to provide state-of-the-art, evidence based treatment that patients and their families can be fully satisfied with.

Patient care at our department

Main diseases

The following are the diseases and treatments that can be handled in our department.

• Craniotomy tumor resection and endoscopic tumor resection for all brain tumors (meningioma, glioma, acoustic neuroma, pituitary adenoma, craniopharyngioma, childhood brain tumor, skull base tumor, metastatic brain tumor, etc.)
• Neurosurgical clipping and endovascular embolization for ruptured and unruptured cerebral aneurysms
• Multimodal therapy combining vascular surgery, craniotomy procedures and radiation therapy for cerebral arteriovenous malformations
• Bypass surgery for Moyamoya disease and intracranial arterial stenosis
• Carotid artery stenting (CAS) and carotid endarterectomy (CEA) for carotid artery stenosis
• Acute phase thrombolytic therapy for cerebral embolism
• Trigeminal neuralgia, facial cramps
• Spinal cord/spine disease
• Spinal cord tumors
• In addition to the above elective diseases, we provide advanced acute medical treatment for conditions which are extremely urgent, such as head trauma, stroke, and perinatal stroke which require cooperation with the Department of Emergency Medicine, Obstetrics, Anesthesiology, Pediatrics, etc.

Target Symptoms

Symptoms of brain tumors can progress slowly with symptoms including headaches, paralysis and numbness in the limbs, difficulty forming words clearly, dazed and strange look, forgetfulness, etc. We will perform a detailed examination at our department if you are concerned about such symptoms.

In the case of stroke (cerebral hemorrhage or cerebral infarction), severe headaches, paralysis of the limbs and face, and consciousness disorders can develop suddenly. If you have a sudden severe headache that you have never experienced before, you need to visit the clinic immediately, because there is a risk of subarachnoid bleeding. There is a possibility of recovery if treatment is received early after the onset of symptoms, especially in the case of cerebral infarctions, but the symptom will become permanent if time passes. In other words, it is important to visit the clinic early if symptoms suddenly appear. Moreover, even if the symptoms of the above are temporary and you recover immediately, it is likely this is a forerunner to a serious cerebrovascular disease and it is necessary to visit the doctor as soon as possible and not ignore it.

Treatment results

Medical staff

Name	Job Title	Position	Specialized Field	Credentials
飯星　智史 (Iihoshi Satoshi)	Professor		Cerebrovascular disease Aneurysm Dural arteriovenous fistula Arteriovenous malformation Endovascular theraphy	Board-Certified Neurosurgeon (the Japan Neurosurgical Society) Board-Certified Doctor Japanese Society for Neuroendovascular Therapy Board-Certified Doctor The Japan Stroke Society
花北　俊哉 (Hanakita Shunya)	Associate Professor		Brain Tumors (meningioma,schwannoma,glioma, skull base tumors etc.)	Board-Certified Neurosurgeon (the Japan Neurosurgical Society) The Japan Stroke Society Certified DoctorJapanese Society for Neuroendoscopy Certified Doctor
吉田　信介 (Yoshida Shinsuke)	Instructor		Spinal surgery Cerebrovascular disorders Carotid artery stenosis Aneurysms Moyamoya disease etc. Endoscopic surgery	Board-Certified Neurosurgeon (the Japan Neurosurgical Society) The Japan Stroke Society Certified Doctor Neurospinal society of Japan Certified Doctor
長谷川　洋敬 (Hasegawa　Hirotaka)	Instructor		"Brain Tumors (meningioma,schwannoma,glioma,skull base tumors etc.)" Minimallybinvasive skull base surgery	Board-Certified Neurosurgeon (the Japan Neurosurgical Society) The Japan Stroke Society Certified DoctorJapanese Society for Neuroendoscopy Certified Doctor
齊藤　徹 (Saitou Akira)	Instructor		Cerebrovascular disorders Cerebral aneurysms Carotid artery stenosis Moyamoya disease Acute cerebral ischemia	Board-Certified Neurosurgeon (the Japan Neurosurgical Society) Japanese Society for Neuroendovascular Therapy Certified Doctor The Japan Stroke Society Certified Doctor
笠倉　至言 (Kasakura Shigen)	Instructor		Cerebrovascular disease Aneurysm Dural arteriovenous fistula Arteriovenous malformation Endovascular theraphy	Board-Certified Doctor Japanese Society for Neuroendovascular Therapy Board-Certified Doctor The Japan Stroke Society
花　大洵 (Hana Taijyun)	Instructor		Brarain tumors Awake surgery Pediatric Neurosurgery Neurotrauma	Board-Certified Neurosurgeon (the Japan Neurosurgical Society and The Japanese Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery) The Japan Stroke Society Certified Doctor
轟　和典 (Todoroki Kazunori)	Instructor		Neurosurgery general	Board-Certified Neurosurgeon (the Japan Neurosurgical Society)
川口　雄生 (Kawaguchi Yuki)	Senior resident		Neurosurgery general
竹ノ谷　直樹 (Takenoya　Naoki)			Neurosurgery general
氏家　瞳 (Ujiie Hitomi)	Senior resident		Neurosurgery general
大西　叡和 (Onishi Toshikazu)	Senior resident		Neurosurgery general
鈴木　尭陽 (Suzuki Takaaki)	Senior resident		Neurosurgery general
三谷　健人 (Mitani　Kento)	Senior resident		Neurosurgery general
松居　徹 (Matsui Toru)	Professor Emeneritus
大宅　宗一 (Oya Soichi)	Visitting Professor
小原　琢磨 (Obara Takuma)			Director of Neurosurgery,Sanai hospital	Board-Certified Neurosurgeon (the Japan Neurosurgical Society)
平川　亘 (Hirakawa Wataru)			Director of Neurosurgery,IKEBUKURO Hospital Vice Director	Board-Certified Neurosurgeon (the Japan Neurosurgical Society)
印東　雅大 (Indo Masahiro)
藤澤　直顕 (Fujisawa Naoaki)			Director of Neurosurgery,Musashino General Hospital	Board-Certified Neurosurgeon (the Japan Neurosurgical Society) The Japan Stroke Society Certified Doctor

Outpatient clinic

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To the Medical Institutions

① To the Regional Medical Institutions

We will respond to you promptly when you contact us for emergency patients where you suspect cerebrovascular disease.
In addition, our Department of Neurosurgery especially specializes following areas in neurosurgery,

• Brain Tumors (meningioma, acoustic neuroma, glioma, craniopharyngioma, pituitary tumors, etc.)
• Cerebral aneurysms
• Cerebral arteriovenous malformation
• Intracranial artery stenosis, cervical carotid artery stenosis
• Moyamoya disease in adults and children
• Trigeminal neuralgia or facial spasms
• Spinal cord disease

Please feel free to consult with us if you have a patient who has concerns with the above. Our department wants to cooperate closely with the local medical institutions. We will report the details after the consultation.

② To medical students and residents

We conduct clinical observations and briefings at any time in our classrooms. Although we are a university hospital that tends to be biased toward "clinical pathology and research," our department considers "nurturing" to be an extremely important mission.

In such a situation, we try to make sure to consider that there is enough opportunity for them to actually use their hands and participate in the treatment, that we are enthusiastic for education also in daily practice, and that there is no such thing as a young doctor being swamped only with chores, which is likely to be seen in a so-called University Hospital.

In addition, our department works in collaboration with the First Department of Anatomy at the Saitama Medical University Hospital to seek to find safer surgical methods for skull base tumors such as meningioma, auditory neuroma, craniopharyngioma, and pituitary adenomas, or for treatment of difficult vascular lesions in the base of the skull, and spinal cord lesions. In addition to making an intensive effort to aid physicians in obtaining their doctorate, we also provide lectures on anatomy for neurosurgeons or students. Please contact our department if you are a resident or medical student who is interested in the neurosurgery treatment centered on surgery.