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MEDICAL SPECIALTIES
1997 - South African twins before and after surgery. |
As a pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Ben Carson conducts brain surgery on children and adolescents, as well as some adults, to try to correct a variety of disfigurements, and nerve and brain disorders, from brain tumors to uncontrollable seizures to facial and craniofacial abnormalities. His research interests include developing new methods to combat brain tumors; refinement of cranio-facial surgical techniques; and the use of 3-D imaging in preparing for and conducting surgery.
In addition to helping children, Dr. Carson helps adults who suffer from trigeminal neuralgia, a nerve disorder that causes extreme facial pain. An under-diagnosed and difficult disorder to treat, he has achieved a 80-90 percent rate of success for the more than 100 adults he treats annually.
National and international audiences have followed his achievements in separating conjoined twins and performing cerebral hemispherectomies to control debilitating seizures, often brought about by a disease called Rasmussen's Syndrome. Since the 1980s, Carson has refined and developed new approaches to these delicate surgeries, increasing their universal success rates.
As a surgeon, he first received world-wide attention for his ground-breaking leadership of a medical team which, in Germany in 1987, was the first to separate occipital craniopagus twins - twins joined at the back of the head. In 1997, he lead a team of South African physicians in the first successful separation of vertically conjoined twins-twins joined at the tops of the head. The pioneering use of 3-D imagery of the infant boys' brains and skulls enabled Dr. Carson to practice "virtual surgery" before the actual operation, thus contributing to its success.