IN Ross Township Summer 2014 | Page 9

New hope for hemifacial spasm
Mary Burke, an investment banker from Chicago, does her
homework. When she started experiencing facial twitches, “I told
my clients I was tired,” says Mary. “But it reached a point when
my face was scrunched all the time.”
Doctors in Chicago told her she had hemifacial spasm and
suggested a BOTOX® regimen. “Each treatment requires up to six
shots, and it loses its effectiveness over time,” says Mary. “It just
wasn’t the solution for me. I researched hemifacial spasm
online, and Dr. Sekula’s name kept coming up. He was definitely
‘the guy’ to see.”
Mary came to UPMC Passavant to have Dr. Sekula and his
team perform microvascular decompression — a minimally
invasive surgical procedure that relieves abnormal compression
of a cranial nerve.
“Using a microscope, I can see where the actual blood vessel is
affecting the nerve,” says Dr. Sekula. “We then lift the vessel away
from the nerve and insert a permanent ‘cushion’ to separate them.”
Mary was able to leave the hospital two days after surgery, and
then rested at a nearby hotel for a day before returning home.
“I was extremely impressed with the entire process at UPMC
Passavant, from the ease of scheduling surgery, the expertise of
the nursing staff, and even my hospital room,” says Mary. “The
bottom line is when you have this kind of operation, you want
someone who does this type of surgery often.”

Relief from trigeminal neuralgia
The pain of trigeminal neuralgia can be excruciating: just ask
salesman Robert Beirne, 76, from Flowery Branch, Ga. “It felt like
the world’s worst toothache, like someone was sticking a knife
in your gum, then turning it,” he says. After seeing six dentists,
Robert was referred to a neurologist who immediately recognized
the problem. “Three out of 100,000 people get it — and I was
one of the lucky ones,” he laughs.
Robert initially tried medications and a numbing gel, but he
didn’t like the side effects and relief was limited. “I jumped online
and saw that UPMC is one of the best places in the country for
treatment,” he says.
In the past, Robert’s age and previous heart surgery would have
eliminated him from having brain surgery. “But the advantages
of minimally invasive surgery open up this treatment opportunity
for many older adults,” says Dr. Sekula.

In April, Robert came to UPMC Passavant for surgery. Dr. Sekula
and his team detected the area where the blood vessel was
affecting Robert’s facial nerve, and relieved the pressure with
microvascular decompression.
“My wife and I drove to Pittsburgh on Monday for tests, I had
surgery on Thursday, and we headed back home on Sunday,” says
Robert. “After a year of agony, I woke up from surgery and the pain
was gone. I couldn’t be happier.”

Less invasive brain tumor surgery
Pittsburgh software consultant Cindy Koustis was vacationing
in California’s wine country last fall with her husband and friends
when they noticed she wasn’t herself.
“They said I became a little odd in my behavior,” she says. “Then,
just as we were arriving at a vineyard for a tour, I had a grand mal
seizure.” The next thing she remembers is waking up in a hospital,
where doctors told her she had a golf ball-sized brain tumor in
the area behind her forehead.
Cindy met with leading neurosurgeons in San Francisco, but she
and her husband decided to return to Pittsburgh when they were
told that emergency surgery wasn’t necessary. “We researched our
best options and learned that UPMC helped to pioneer minimally
invasive techniques in brain surgery,” she says. They consulted with
renowned UPMC Passavant neurosurgeon Joseph Maroon, MD,
who involved Dr. Sekula for her operation.
“I remember how reassuring both Dr. Sekula and Dr. Maroon
were to me,” says Cindy. “They felt that the type of tumor I had,
a meningioma that appeared to be noncancerous, was very
treatable. I was confident I made the right choice. I knew I was in
good hands.”
“We performed a minimally invasive removal of the tumor
through a small opening in the skull above the eye,” says Dr. Sekula.
“In doing so, we were able to reduce the healing time and minimize
any visible scarring.”
“I was up and walking the day after surgery, just like they said
I would be,” says Cindy. “I was back to work about a month after
the surgery, and my last scan showed no signs of the tumor. I feel
incredibly blessed.”
For more information about minimally invasive brain surgery
with Dr. Sekula at UPMC Passavant, call 412-802-8830.

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