Internationally renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Robert Spetzler is resigning as president and CEO of Barrow Neurological Institute after 30 years of leadership.
Read the full original article from AZ Central.
According to Barrow, Spetzler:
- Has performed more brain aneurysm surgeries — more than 6,400 at Barrow — than any brain surgeon in the world.
- Pioneered the “cardiac standstill” procedure in which a patient’s body is cooled to 15 degrees, blood flow is eliminated and the heart is stopped so surgeons can safely treat blood vessel problems deep in the brain. Spetzler has developed numerous other surgical approaches to operate on otherwise inoperable brain conditions.
- Co-developed the Spetzler-Martin AVM grading system, which is used by brain surgeons to describe the severity of critical lesions (similar to the stages and grades used in cancer diagnosis).
- Developed a set of neurosurgery instruments used by brain surgeons throughout the world.
- Trained more brain surgeons than anyone in the world.
Spetzler’s successor, Dr. Michael Lawton, a former Barrow resident, is vice chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of California at San Francisco.
