Renowned Expertise in Cranial Nerve Disorders and Skull Base Surgery
NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED EXPERTISE IN TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA AND OTHER CRANIAL NERVE DISORDERS
Tampa General (TGH) is among the most trusted and recognized medical centers in the country for the medical and surgical treatment of disorders of the cranial nerves. This reputation spans TGH’s capabilities in the comprehensive management of trigeminal neuralgia, hemifacial spasm, geniculate neuralgia, and glossopharyngeal neuralgia.
With technical expertise in the entire gamut of surgical treatments, including microscopic vascular decompression, Cyberknife Radiosurgery and innovative nerve stimulation techniques, TGH attracts patients from throughout the southeast as a destination center for even the most complex cases.
Patients are referred to TGH for the treatment of pituitary, brain and craniofacial malignancies, managed by dedicated surgical boards.
LED BY NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED NEUROSURGEON, DR. HARRY VAN LOVEREN
Dr. Harry van Loveren, Chief of the TGH Neuroscience Institute, Neurosurgery at Tampa General Hospital and Vice-Dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, has developed a national reputation for his expertise in treating cranial nerve disorders. He is the author of numerous publications and regularly lectures on the topic. He has also been appointed to the Medical Advisory Board of the Trigeminal Neuralgia association. van Loveren has performed hundreds of minimally in- vasive operations for these conditions and is frequently consulted to advise other neurosurgeons on patients whose conditions are considered complex.
ONE OF THE NATION’S TOP CENTERS FOR SKULL BASE SURGERY
Tampa General is recognized as one of America’s premier centers for endoscopic and skull base surgery and is renowned for management of the most complex brain tumors in cranial surgery. Patients are referred from around the country to TGH for a multidisciplinary team approach, often as their last hope in seeking a high quality of life and even survival.
The comprehensive team includes specialists from neurosurgery, reconstructive head and neck surgery, oculoplastic surgery, plastic reconstructive surgery, medical oncology, radiation oncology, neuroradiology, pediatric neurosurgery, pediatric oncology, and rehabilitation.
TGH leadership supports their team with the most advanced technology available in the world, including intraoperative MRI, fluorescence-guided surgery, endoscopic surgery, 3D-microscopic surgery, frameless-guided neurosurgery, and laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT).
Specialists perform minimally invasive surgical techniques, complex revision sinus surgeries, and endoscopic resections — the most common procedure being combination pituitary surgeries. Tampa General is one of few medical centers in the region to perform innovative free tissue transfer reconstruction for the most complex skull base defects, including reconstruction in patients who’ve undergone radiation and particularly large tumors.
van Loveren and his team have trained over 20 of the world’s leading skull base surgeons, and he was a founding member of the North American Skull Base Surgery Society and President of the Southern Neurosurgical Society. His strategies, techniques and philosophies have been published in numerous journal articles and two seminal books on surgical approaches to skull base surgery. According to van Loveren, “The purpose of the team is to bring everyone and everything we have available to make what seemed impossible possible, to save one patient at a time, and to be the doctors we always hoped we could become.”