Two of our pediatric neurosurgeons, Dr. Mark Souweidane and Dr. Caitlin Hoffman, presented at the 2024 meeting of the American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons (ASPN), held in January in Hawaii. The ASPN is an elite professional organization dedicated to pediatric neurosurgery, with a membership that includes invited senior pediatric neurosurgeons in North America. Its annual meeting attracts the leading names in pediatric neurosurgery to share insights and advances in the field.
Dr. Souweidane’s keynote Master Series presentation, “Surgery of the Third Ventricle Revisited in an Endoscopic Era,” explored his internationally acclaimed experience in minimally invasive approaches toward intraventricular surgery, and the advances he has been part of pioneering. Dr. Souweidane is a globally acknowledged leader in endoscopic surgery, particularly for third ventricular tumors and colloid cysts, which dramatically changes the risk-benefit analysis for several intraventricular surgical approaches.
Dr. Hoffman presented an abstract, “The Role of VSP in Endoscopic Suturectomy – A Case Review and Qualification of Utility,” which focused on virtual surgical planning for craniosynostosis repair. Dr. Hoffman, who is the Director of Craniofacial Surgery and co-directs (with Dr. Thomas Imahiyerobo) the intercampus Craniosynostosis Surgery Program at Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia, is one of the leading neurosurgeons for craniosynostosis repair. Virtual surgical planning allows for greater precision in both endoscopic and open approaches toward the treatment of craniosynostosis, optimizing outcomes and decreasing operative time and risk