The Neurosurgical Department of Mediterranean Hospital of Cyprus team consists of neurosurgeons with experience covering the entire range of Neurosurgical diseases. With our modern equipment and the doctors’ experience, all modern surgical treatments of neurological diseases are performed in our hospital.

Neurosurgery team consisting of neurosurgeon who are trained in treatment of all the spectrum of diseases of the nervous system such as brain and spinal cord tumors, spine disorders, tumors of the skull base, vascular diseases of the brain, functional neurosurgery, pituitary tumors and pediatric neurosurgery.

The Neurosurgery department of the hospital is in constant cooperation and communication with distinguished Neurosurgical centers abroad in brainstorming level and continuous education for the performance of difficult and complicated operations.

The Neurosurgeons of Mediterranean Hospital of Cyprus participate in many clinical studies in collaboration with scientists from abroad aiming to find new methods of treatment of neurological diseases.

Spine Diseases

The spine department consists of neurosurgeons and orthopedic specialists in treating disorders of the spine, with the direct collaboration of anesthesiologists and specialists for the treatment of pain

At Mediterranean Hospital of Cyprus there is excellent experience across the spectrum of all spine disorders which ensures the best results of diagnosis and treatment up to postoperative rehabilitation

Minimal Invasive Spine Surgery

It involves the use of minimally invasive methods with specialized surgical instruments for the treatment of various diseases of the spine, such as disk herniation, stenosis, disk degeneration, spondylolisthesis and spinal fractures. These surgeries are made with very small incisions and with a microscope, endoscope and intraoperative neuroimaging.

Spine Degenerative Diseases

All people after the age of 35-40 begin to have degenerative changes in the spine. The structures of the spine that are affected are mainly intervertebral
disks, facet joints and ligaments. Often, patients with very advanced degenerative changes suffer from pain, mainly at the lumbar spine that limits the mobility and reduces the quality of daily life.

The degenerative diseases of the spine, such as the degeneration of the intervertebral discs, the facet joints arthritis and spondylolisthesis are frequent causes of sciatica, particularly in older ages.

The etiology of these conditions is believed to be inflammation in disk space, joints and ligaments of the spine.

Symptoms vary but usually include back pain or sometimes cervical pain with radiation to the hands or feet, numbness, dysesthesias or even muscle weakness.

Initially the treatment of these conditions is conservative with drugs (especially anti-inflammatory and pain killers) and physical therapy. In those cases where the conservative treatment has not helped in improving the symptoms over a period of 5-8 weeks, and in cases of worsening of symptoms or appearance of a new and progressively deteriorating neurological deficit (weakness in hand or foot) then there is indication for surgical treatment .Symptoms that should more concerned the patient are the uncontrolled pain, weakness and difficulty in walking, difficulty in performing fine tasks with hands (eg. Button their clothes), sphincter disturbance (sychnouria, urinary incontinence και urge to urinate) and other neurological problems.

Spinal Deformity

Spinal deformity like sagittal inbalance, scoliosis and kyphosis, may cause pain, restriction on mobility and neurological problems. The treatment of those conditions aim to the restoration of the normal anatomy, balance and functionof the spine, reducing with this way the pain and neurological symptoms.

Spinal deformities may occur at birth but also in later age and may be caused by infection, metabolic diseases, trauma, and other conditions. The frequency of the spinal deformities usually increases with the increasing of age. The most common types of deformities of the spine are kyphosis, scoliosis and lordosis. The most common symptoms are pain, difficulty in walking and standing, loss of balance, and a visible deformity and of the back.

For mild types of spinal malformation and when there are no severe symptoms, the treatment is conservative and includes the use of drugs, use of splint and physiotherapy. More severe types with severe symptoms that do not respond to conservative treatment usually require surgical treatment.

Spine Tumors

The spine tumors are divided into three categories: intramedullary tumors, intradural extramedullary tumors and extradural tumors

Intramedullary tumors are located in the spinal cord and may be benign or malignant. The most common types are ependymoma, astrocytoma and angioblastoma.

Extramedullary tumors are located outside of the spinal cord within the dura (and they usually compress from outside the cord. The most common types are meningioma and neurinoma.

Extradural tumors are located outside of the dura, arise from the adjacent tissues (eg. vertebrae) and they compress the dura and spinal cord. Spine metastasis is almost always extradural and they are located in the vertebrae and in the epidural space.

The most common spine tumors symptoms include: local pain, difficulty in walking, loss of walking balance, weakness in the arms and legs and disturbances in urination and bowel function.

Extradural tumors usually have to be removed surgically. The main target is the complete removal of the tumor without causing neurological damage, minimizing the possibility of recurrence or dissemination. For many tumors their complete removal is possible because they have clear boundaries from the adjacent neural tissue but for the others their complete removal is difficult. In these cases partial removal of the tumor is done and the residual tumor can be treated with radiation. (SRS, Gamma Knife)

Spine tumor removal surgeries requires specialized Neurosurgeons and are always done with neuromonitoring of the patient during the operation which is done by experienced Neurologists-Neurophysiologists.

Spine infections and trauma

Spine infections and trauma are acute diseases which require immediate diagnosis and treatment to avoid irreversible neurological damage.

Spine infections are usually the spondylitis (osteomyelitis), diskitis and epidural abscess.

The infections may cause by bacteria or fungus and they usually affect patients with predisposing conditions such as malnutrition, diabetes mellitus, immunodeficiency, renal failure, i.v drug use and alcoholism. Spinal infection symptoms are non-specific and the most common are fever with chill and back pain. Infections always require long-term intravenous antibiotics and very often operation for debridement and drainage of the abscess and the necrotic tissues caused by the infection but also for the stabilization of the spine.

If the infection has caused malformation, then it may need operation for correction and restoration of the anatomy and sagittal balance.

Spine trauma may cause serious και progressively worsening injury the spinal cord or at the nerve roots, for this reason the diagnosis and the treatment should be initiated immediately on the patient's arrival at the hospital. The Neurosurgical treatment may include non-invasive procedures such as cuff and cast positioning or surgery for the reduction and stabilization of the spine.