MVD

Hi from here in the UK.  I would strongly advise you to join the Facebook Hemifacial Spasm International Support Group where there are a lot of US members with experience of many different surgeons - members are very helpful and the site has great info.  I would suggest that you ask Dr Konrad how many of these surgeries (MVD specifically for HFS, not TN) he has done (hopefully in excess of several hundred) and with what level of success (I wouldn't consider a surgeon who didn't have an at least 80% success rate.  The other important question is how many of his patients (from this surgery) have suffered unilateral deafness after the surgery - the better surgeons have a very low instance of this in my experience, but it is always a risk of this surgery.  The surgeon that people rave about in the US seems to be Dr Sekula who operates in Pittsburg, Penn. - he has the reputation of being 'the go to man'.  Anyway, these are just my opinons and hopefully you will receive other replies.  This site is UK based and so tends to attract a lot of UK folk as well as some international members.

Hi from Bob in the United States.I had 2 MVD's performed in 2002-one in July at a well known hospital in Philadelphia .My condition worsened.It was a 4 day waste of my time.I want to emphasize the time element of of "4 day" because this is precisely why the procedure failed.Three months later I met with success at UPMC located in Pittsburgh,PA. From beginning to end, a 10 day investment of time (I want to emphasize the terms "10" and"day"  because this was precisely why the procedure was a ringing success. That along with the fact that it was performed by a very skilled surgeon whose name is Dr. Amin Kassam.He now heads up the staff at St. Luke's Hospital in Milwaukee ,Wisconsin.If you were to place a phone call there ,ask for Tracy.She is very,very helpful.With respect to the type of questions I would ask please note the following:Is there an assistant surgeon present during the entire procedure?This is extremely important because the surgery is very delicate and God forbid if one wrong maneuver is executed, you could be messed up for life.In Philadelphia when I was advised of the possible side effects, I just could not imagine any of these things happening to me.Boy, was I dead wrong.Sight,sound, speech, strength ,appetite,and equibrium were all affected.Not so at UPMC with Dr.Kassam in charge.They really know which end is up at UPMC.Next question-Are any of the following tests administered and fully explained to you - BSER,EMG, Hearing, Vision,Equilibrium before the MVD procedure ? These tests are extremely important because they accurately pinpoint for just exactly what is going on with your 7th cranial nerve and the adjacent artery.Next area of concern would be post op testing and rehab procedures.How long?Next - possible long term side effects of the anesthesia used to put you in another dimension. The key term here is "long term" I really do not know how many studies have been done in this area.Do they require that you be botox free for a year before they ever consider initiating the MVD procedure.? How skilled is the anesthesiologist? Any lawsuits against him, her or the neurosurgeon? Are any research and follow up studies that they pursue  and are you made aware of the research results? Is there a Plan B in the event that Plan A doesn't achieve the desired results?Now ,If I can direct your attention to the fingernail on your little finger .Well guess what- if you look at the very small dimension of said finger nail,in actuality this is the total area in which these very skilled surgeons must do their thing .Well I started this Email  Friday night before midnight and it is now Saturday morning after midnight ,so in closing, I want to wish you well in your journey to recovery.With the right surgeon and the right anesthesiologist you will stack the odds in your favor and the result will be a resounding success.Take care.

night before midnight