30 DECEMBER 1 - DECEMBER 7, 2017 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
Severe headaches, sudden paralysis lead
to life-saving removal of brain tumor at
NYU Langone Hospital – Brooklyn
Normally Diana Lipari would
push through the pain as she
went about her day, but when
a splitting headache hit her last summer
she knew this was different.
“I had horrible pain in the back of
my neck for about a week and I was
not feeling right at all,” says Lipari,
a 36-year-old Brooklyn native and
former school teacher. “The pain was
waking me up throughout the night.”
Her situation grew dire when she
became completely immobile during
a tutoring session. “All of the sudden I
couldn’t move,” she recalls.
She was rushed to NYU Langone
Hospital – Brooklyn’s Emergency
Department where a series of radiological
exams revealed the source of
her paralysis: a two-inch mass on her
brain at the base of her skull.
“A tumor was exerting significant
pressure on her brainstem,” says David
Gordon, MD, director of cranial,
vascular and skull-base neurosurgery
at NYU Langone Hospital – Brooklyn.
“The skull has fixed volume. Anything
introduced into the intracranial space,
like a tumor, results in an increase in
pressure and displacement of normal
structures that control the transmission
of nerve impulses.”
In the back of the brain—where
Lipari’s tumor was—the brainstem
functions like a “control center,” which
all information going from the brain
to the body and from the body to the
brain passes through.
The growth was situated in a
region of the brain called the cerebellum,
which controls balance and
David Gordon, MD, director of cranial, vascular and skull-base neurosurgery at NYU Langone
Hospital – Brooklyn, with patient Diana Lipari, who had a two-inch mass removed from her
brain.
coordination of motor function. For
Lipari, who had just started working
toward personal training certification,
the tumor not only threatened her new
career path—but her life as well.
Gordon performed a neurosurgical
procedure known as a suboccipital
craniectomy with frameless
Photo courtesy of NYU Langone Hospital - Brooklyn
stereotactic navigation on Lipari, to
remove the mass. It involves a computer
guidance system that allowed
Gordon to see a complete picture of
Lipari’s brain during surgery and to
monitor the movement of his instruments
inside the skull.
The technology enhances precision,
allowing a surgeon to make a smaller
opening to the brain and providing
a greater margin of safety for the
patient.
A year later, Lipari is back training
hard at the gym—and finishing up
her certification. “I’m doing great,”
she says. “Dr. Gordon saved my life.
I’ll never, ever take one moment for
granted.”
Gordon continues to see Lipari
regularly. “Thankfully, the mass
was non-cancerous, which is the best
outcome you could hope for,” says
Gordon. “We’ll follow her over the
course of several years with regular
imaging to ensure continued good
health.”
Gordon collaborates closely with
colleagues throughout NYU Langone
Health. With access to a wide array of
resources, technology and clinical talent,
the Department of Neurosurgery
and NYU Langone’s Brain Tumor Center—
part of the system’s Perlmutter
Cancer Center—are equipped to treat
any neuro-oncologic and cerebrovascular
condition.
“This is an example of what we want
to do every day for our patients,” says
John Golfinos, MD, co-director of the
Brain Tumor Center and chair of
NYU Langone Health’s Department
of Neurosurgery. “We have the best
neurosurgeons in the field and our
goal is always to improve the lives of
our patients while prioritizing their
safety.”
For more information about NYU
Langone Hospital – Brooklyn and the
Brain Tumor Center, call 212-263-2950
or visit nyulangone.org. To schedule
an appointment with Gordon, call
718-630-6580.
St. Nicholas Home
A n A d u l t R e
s i d e n c e
w
choice
ange e St. Nicholas Home 718-238-8141
425 Ovington Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11209
Located In The Heart Of Beautiful Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
www.stnicholashome.org
Non-Sectarian
We offer a wide range of senior
lifestyle choices, care and services.
holas Hom
enue,1
B
238
stnicholasho
Not-for-Profit • N
me
ra
es,car