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Spine Surgery / Neurosurgery
The Spine Surgery / Neurosurgery or Neuro-Spine Program at Rancho Los Amigos National
Rehabilitation Center primarily serves patients that have suffered brain and spinal cord injuries
and is an essential component of the Los Angeles County - University of Southern California
(LAC-USC) / Rancho Los Amigos Comprehensive Epilepsy Center.
The Neuro-Spine Program provides complex spinal surgeries, including neural decompression,
instrumented and non-instrumented fusions, and deformity correction for patients suffering from
a spinal cord injury. With respect to peripheral nerve surgery, the Neuro-Spine surgeons at
Rancho Los Amigos also conducts nerve biopsies, decompressions, and transpositions. The patients
that benefit from these surgeries include those with peripheral neuropathies of unknown origin,
as well as those suffering from radial, ulnar, and median nerve compression.
The Neuro-Spine Program has a comprehensive cranial vault reconstruction program that has
achieved local and national notariety for their success in treating patients with head injuries. Since its inception in
2007, almost 100 cranial vault reconstruction surgeries have been performed with high patient
satisfaction. The program is now the busiest of its kind in the United States.
In 2011, the Neuro-Spine Program initiated Phase II evaluation for patients with medically
intractable epilepsy. As part of the LAC-USC/Rancho Los Amigos Comprehensive Epilepsy Center,
the Neuro-Spine service works closely with the Epilepsy Monitoring Program at Rancho Los Amigos.
Patients undergo video-EEG monitoring, imaging, and neuropsychological evaluation, and when
appropriate undergo invasive EEG monitoring with sub-dural electrodes. Resection of the seizure
foci are perfomed at the LAC-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles.
The LAC-USC/Rancho Los Amigos Comprehensive Epilepsy Center recieved a Special Merit Plaque
at the Los Angeles County 25th Annual Productivity and Quality Awards ceremony in 2011. The
Neuro-Spine service welcomes patient referrals for consultation and treatment.
Program Chief:
Charles Liu, M.D.
Medical Staff:
Kevin Rolfe, M.D., M.P.H.
Robert Waters, M.D. (Emeritus)
Dudley Fukunaga, PA-C
Telephone Number:
(562) 401-7448
(562) 401-6247 (fax)
Address:
Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center
Department of Surgery - Spine Surgery/Neurosurgery
7601 East Imperial Highway, JPI-3120
Downey, California 90242
Page last updated September 7, 2011
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