Barrow magazine Volume 24, Issue 1, 2012

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50th anniversaryBarrow Neurological Institutecelebrates its inspiring past,amazing future

Robert F. Spetzler, MDUp close and personal

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Barrow Neurological Institute will celebrate its golden anniversary on September 23, 2012. Thismilestone is a wonderful opportunity to remember all that has been accomplished here, to celebrateour inspiring past.

But, more importantly, our 50th anniversary is an ideal time to look ahead to what is sure to be anamazing future.

This is the beginning of the “golden age” of Barrow Neurological Institute. With the best clinical andresearch staff in the nation, Barrow is and will be at the forefront of finding answers to some of themost devastating medical conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease,Lou Gehrig’s disease, stroke, depression, degenerative disk disease and, of course, brain tumors.

During this special year, we could spend a lot of time celebrating our remarkable legacy, but insteadwe are challenging ourselves to take medicine beyond its current frontier, to do the impossibleeveryday.

The Barrow story has just begun. You have been a vital part of that story. We invite you to be part ofall that is to come by making a gift to Barrow Neurological Foundation in honor of Barrow’s goldenanniversary. We are grateful for your support.

Sincerely,

Robert F. Spetzler, MD Kathy X. KramerDirector, Barrow Neurological Institute President and CEO, Barrow Neurological

Foundation

P.S. Please make your gift today. You can give online at Barrow50.org or SupportBarrow.org. Ifyou would like to discuss giving opportunities, call the foundation office at 602-406-3041, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. A postage-paid giving envelope is included in this magazine foryour convenience.

Opening thoughts

On our cover: Robert Spetzler, MD, director of Barrow Neurological Institute, in a surgery suite at theinstitute.

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It started with a dream: Barrow Neurological Institute’s inspiring past

An interview with Robert Spetzler, MD,director of Barrow Neurological Institute

Out of the dark into the light: The evolution of neurosurgery

Barrow today: A continued focus onclinical care, research and medical education

50 Years, 50 FacesPatients tell their stories at Barrow50.org

Help make Barrow’s future amazing

Endovascular neurosurgeons operate from inside blood vessels to treat

woman’s difficult condition

Huntington’s disease proves devastating to patients and families

Barrow Grand Ball, Celebrity Fight Night,Lou Grubb Friends Fore Golf

raise funds for Barrow

St. Joseph’s Amazing:Patient stories from the files ofBarrow Neurological Institute

Benefactor Briefs

Planned Giving

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barrow Contents

Editor: Catherine [email protected]

Art director/designer: Justin Detwiler

Printer: Panoramic Press

Contributing writers: Lindsey Burke,Sally Clasen, Melissa Morrison, Sarah Padilla

Photography: Brad Armstrong; GaryArmstrong; D Squared Productions,Murphy/Scully Photography; Jeff Noble

Robert F. Spetzler, MD, DirectorBarrow Neurological Institute®

Kathy X. Kramer, President and CEOBarrow Neurological Foundation

How to Reach Us | Barrow is published twice a year. We welcome your com-ments, suggestions and requests to be added to or deleted from our mailing list. Call602-406-1041, email [email protected] or mail to Barrow maga-zine, Office of Philanthropy, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, 350 W. ThomasRd., Phoenix, AZ, 85013. Please include your name, address, email and phonenumber in all correspondence. Visit us online at www.SupportBarrow.org.

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When John Green, MD, moved fromChicago to Phoenix in 1947, he broughtwith him his own surgical tools and a bigdream: He would establish the Southwest’sfirst neuroscience institute, an institutededicated to learning all there is to knowabout the human brain.

Dr. Green’s dream seemed impossible insuch a young desert community. But thenhe met Julia Barrow, who was gravely illwith a malignant brain tumor, and herhusband, Charles.

Using the most advanced techniquesavailable, Dr. Green operated on Julia,extending her life for several years. Soimpressed was Charles that he offered$500,000 for Dr. Green’s dream institute,provided that Sister Mary Placida, St. Joseph’s administrator at the time,match his gift. She did just that, andCharles Barrow gave another $600,000.

In planning Barrow, Dr. Green soughtadvice from leading neurosurgeons andneurologists from across the country. Heorganized Barrow into three areas: patientcare, research and education. He alsoestablished Barrow Neurological Founda-tion to raise money for the new institute.

Barrow Neurological Institute opened onSept. 23, 1962. Now, just 50 years later,Barrow has become a world leader in theneurosciences. We believe that Dr. Greenwould be proud to reflect upon Barrow’sinspiring past and to look forward to itsamazing future.

Barrow Magazine Barrow Neurological Institute 1962-20124

It Starte With A D

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ed Dream

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1959Charles Barrow gives $500,000 toSt. Joseph’s Hospital for the con-struction of Barrow NeurologicalInstitute as thanks for the careJohn Green, MD, gave his wife,Julia. The Sisters of Mercy matchthe gift by obtaining $500,000 inHill-Burton funds. In all, the Barrow family contributes $1.1 million to the project.

1960Barrow Neurological Foundationis established to raise funds forresearch at Barrow.

1961The Neurosurgery Residency Program receives accreditationfrom the American Board of Neurological Surgery.

1975Barrow acquires a computer-ized axial tomography (CAT)scanner, the first in Phoenix.

1976The Microneurosurgical Laboratory opens, with fundingfrom the Barrow Women’sBoard.

The Division of Neuroanesthe-siology is established under thedirection of Elizabeth Wilkin-son, MD.

1977The James R. Atkinson PainResearch Endowment Fund isestablished. Bud Craig, PhD, isawarded the endowed chair.

1979The Neurorehabilitation Unitopens. Now called the Deborahand Bruce Downey NeuroRehabilitation Center, it hasbecome a world-class centeroffering therapy to patients withbrain and spinal cord injuries.

1981The Multiple Sclerosis Clinic isestablished.

1983The Stroke Center opens.

The J.N. Harber Foundationendows the Chair of Neuro-surgery at Barrow, enabling theinstitute to recruit Robert Spetzler, MD.

An inspiring pastBarrow Neurological Institute

ST. JOSEPH’S

HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL C

ENTER

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Barrow Neurological Institute 1962-2012 Barrow Magazine 7

1962Barrow Neurological Instituteopens. At the time, it is one ofthree neuroscience institutes inthe country. Dr. Green Ari-zona’s first neurosurgeon, is itsdirector, and the five-storybuilding has 50 patient beds.

1965

1965The Women’s Board of BarrowNeurological Foundation isestablished to raise funds forBarrow. The first Women’sBoard fundraiser, a masked ballheld on New Year’s Eve of thatyear, raises $26,000.

1966Microneurosurgery is per-formed at Barrow for the firsttime.

1967The Neurosurgical ResearchLab opens, with funding fromthe Barrow Women’s Board.

1972A $3-million expansion, fundedin part by donations, adds threestories to the Barrow buildingand brings its bed count to 114.

1974The first Barrow Symposiumattracts 250 neurologists andneurosurgeons from the U.S.,Canada and Mexico.

1984The Neurological RehabilitationDay Hospital opens. The inno-vative outpatient program isnow called the Center for Tran-sitional NeuroRehabilitation.

1986Dr. Spetzler succeeds Dr. Greenas the director of Barrow.

Barrow researchers, led by Dr.Spetzler, refine the cardiacstandstill procedure for use intreating previously inoperablecerebrovascular disease. Theoperation involves putting thepatient in a state of suspendedanimation—with no heart beator blood flow—so that surgeonscan operate without the risk ofbleeding.

1987The A.B. and Anne Merete RobbsJr. Stroke Prevention Treatmentand Research Center is endowed.

1988Former First Lady Nancy Rea-gan dedicates the Dr. Loyal andEdith Davis NeurologicalResearch Laboratory in honorof her parents. Dr. Davis servedas interim director of Barrow.

The Epilepsy Monitoring Unitopens for the diagnosis ofseizure disorders.

The Kemper and Ethel MarleyChair of Neurology is estab-lished, enabling Barrow torecruit William Shapiro, MD,formerly of the Sloan KetteringInstitute of Cancer Research.

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1989A Barrow team, led by VolkerSonntag, MD, makes interna-tional headlines for successfullyreattaching the skull of TimothyMathias after a bicycle-car accident.

The Parkinson Disease andInformation Referral Center isestablished. In 1997, the centeris renamed the Muhammad AliParkinson Center.

1992Curtis A. Dickman, MD, pio-neers spinal thoracoscopy, amethod of operating on thespine using endoscopic toolsthrough tiny chest incisions.

1993The Barrow Balance Center,directed by Terry Fife, MD,opens for the treatment of bal-ance disorders and vertigo.

Dr. Sonntag performs neck sur-gery on the wife of King Fahd ofSaudia Arabia.

1994Dr. Spetzler receives neuro-surgery’s highest recognition:Honored Guest of the Congressof Neurological Surgeons. He isthe youngest person to receivethe honor.

Lou Grubb names Barrow Neurological Institute the beneficiary of his charity golftournament to thank the hospital for the care he receivedin 1986 after suffering a rup-tured aneurysm. The annualfundraiser, now called the LouGrubb Memorial Tournament,has raised millions of dollars forthe hospital.

1999 A bequest from Marjorie Newsome enables Barrow toestablish the Barrow Founda-tion UK.

The Karsten Solheim familyestablishes the Karsten SolheimDementia Research Chair atBarrow in honor of the creatorof PING golf clubs.

2000Cambridge University honorsA.D. “Bud” Craig, PhD, forresearch showing that specificneural pathways carry sensa-tions from peripheral nerves upthe spinal cord to the brain.

The Neuroendocrine ClinicalConference is established byWilliam L. White, MD.

In honor of his late wife, BillLevine establishes a fund toendow the Ina Levine BrainTumor Center.

2001The Muscular Dystrophy Asso-ciation recognizes the MDAClinic at Barrow as one of only24 MDA-ALS Centers in thecountry.

Dr. Sonntag receives the Alum-ni Spine Chair, an endowedchair funded by physicians, for-mer residents, patients andbenefactors in recognition ofhis contributions to spine surgery.

The Annette and Harold NorenStroke Intensive Care Unitopens.

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1995Barrow surgeons, led by Dr.Spetzler, perform the world’sfirst cardiac standstill on a preg-nant woman. Cheryl Jonesdelivers a healthy boy several months later.

The Huger Mercy Living Cen-ter, a residential facility for peo-ple with dementia, opens withmajor funding from RaymondHuger, MD.

1996Muhammad Ali appears atCelebrity Fight Night for thefirst time. Proceeds from theevent benefit Parkinson’s services at Barrow.

1997Barrow acquires a GammaKnife, still the only one in Ari-zona and one of about 125 inthe U.S. Kris Smith, MD, servesas the director of Gamma Knife.

The 70,000-square-foot Neuro-science Research Center opens,with major funding from theHyman Golden family, the DelE. Webb Foundation, and Mr.and Mrs. Leonard Goldman.

The Horace W. Steele Chair ofNeurosurgical Education, fund-ed by the Steele Foundation, isawarded to Dr. Spetzler.

1999U.S. News & World Report rec-ognizes Barrow as one of the 10best centers for neurosurgeryand neurology in the country, anhonor Barrow continues to earn.

Joseph Zabramski, MD, and EricJohnson, PhD, contribute to theHuman Genome Project byidentifying the gene that causesthe inherited form of cerebralcavernous malformations.

2002Dr. Spetzler performs a cardiacstandstill on Chase Meseroll, 5,the youngest person to undergothe operation.

Dr. Sonntag is named the Honored Guest of the Congressof Neurological Surgeons.

Dr. Dickman uses a techniquedeveloped at Barrow to reattach

Marcos Parra’s skull to hisspinal column after a nearlyfatal car accident.

Jim Pipe, PhD, leads develop-ment of PROPELLER, amethod of obtaining clear MRIimages regardless of patientmovement.

The John and Betty Vanden-burgh Chair is endowed forALS treatment and research.

2003Barrow opens the nation’s firstHypothalamic HamartomaCenter, successfully treatingchildren from around the worldwith the devastating braintumor.

The Pushing Boundaries cam-paign is launched to raise fundsfor a $200-million hospitalbuilding project. Co-chairs are

Michelle Robson and JulieWrigley. Major gifts come fromJulie Wrigley, Michelle and EdRobson, the Earl Petznick fami-ly, the Virginia G. Piper Foun-dation, the Kemper and EthelMarley Foundation, BarrowNeurosurgical Associates, theStardust Foundation, Stevie andKarl Eller, Deborah and BruceDowney, and Doris and JohnNorton.

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2003St. Joseph’s Foundation andBarrow Neurological Founda-tion launch the St. Joseph’sHealth & Wealth Raffle, thefirst mega raffle of its kind inthe U.S., to raise funds for edu-cation, research and care forthose in need at the hospital.

2005The first TelePresence video-conferencing system of its kindis installed at Barrow, facilitat-ing real-time global consulta-tion during surgery. Supportfor the project comes from Stevie and Karl Eller.

2006The 430,000-square-foot Barrow Neuroscience Toweropens. It is the largest, mosttechnologically advanced neu-roscience facility in the worldand includes the first ever 3-Tesla intraoperative MRI.Donors give about $30 million.

2007Robert Spetzler, MD, performshis 5,000th aneurysm opera-tion, the most of any neurosur-geon.

The new Deborah and BruceDowney Neuro RehabilitationCenter opens. The much largerfacility features 52 patient beds,three gyms and specializedequipment. It was funded by

2009The Leona M. and Harry B.Helmsley Charitable Trustfunds a new research facilitywith a 7-Tesla MRI at Barrow.

Jean Grossman endows theHarold and Jean GrossmanIsraeli Fellowship at Barrow toenable Israeli neurologists toteach and work at the Muham-mad Ali Parkinson Center.

2010Marian H. Rochelle gives $10million to establish the BarrowCenter for Neuromodulationand complete funding of theSonntag Academic Pavilion. Itis the largest gift in Barrow’shistory.

The Barrow Brain TumorResearch Center is establishedto develop new treatments and

find a cure for brain tumors.Amy and Ray Thurston donate$3 million to the center, whichis directed by Nader Sanai, MD.

After Micah Andrews suffersan internal decapitation in a carcrash, Nicholas Theodore, MD,reattaches his skull to his uppercervical spine, using a proce-dure perfected at Barrow.

2011The Barrow Center for Neuro-modulation is founded toexplore the use of deep brainstimulation and other newapproaches to treating a widerange of brain disorders. Fran-cisco Ponce, MD, is nameddirector of the new center.

Barrow partners with the Ari-zona Interscholastic Associa-

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the Downeys in appreciation ofthe care Bruce received aftersuffering transverse mylitis inearly 2003.

Barrow vision researchersSusana Martinez-Conde, PhD,and Stephen Macknik, PhD,make international headlinesfor their research ending a 50-year debate over the purpose ofsmall involuntary eye move-

ments called microsaccades.Their research, which receivedfunding from Barrow Neuro-logical Foundation, is featuredon the cover of Scientific Ameri-can. The two researchers lateredit an entire issue of ScientificAmerican Mind dedicated toillusion and the brain.

2008Joan Shapiro, PhD, andWilliam Shapiro, MD, establisha fund to endow a Chair inNeuro-Oncology Research atBarrow.

2009The Muhammad Ali ParkinsonCenter moves into a new facili-ty that is twice as big as the oldcenter, thanks to funding fromthe Celebrity Fight Night Foun-dation. It is the most compre-hensive movement disordercenter in the U.S.

tion and the Arizona Cardinalsin developing the nation’s firstmandated concussion educa-tion and prevention programfor student athletes.

Mary Lou and Ira Fulton honortheir late son with a $2.5-mil-lion gift for the new Gregory W.Fulton ALS and Neuromuscu-lar Disorders Clinic, directedby Shafeeq Ladha, MD.

Construction begins on theAshlyn Dyer Aquatic Center,which is funded through $1.6million in contributions to Barrow Neurological Foundation.

2012The Women’s Board celebratesBarrow’s 50th Anniversary atthe 2012 Barrow Grand Ball.The Women’s Board has raisedmore than $42 million for Barrow, making it the institute’slargest benefactor.

Lonnie and Muhammad Aliand the Celebrity Fight NightFoundation honor 50 neuro-

surgeons, neurologists andresearchers at Barrow. CelebrityFight Night has contributed$19 million to Barrow over thepast 16 years.

Mary Lou and Ira Fultondonate $1.5 million for anexpansion of robotic surgery.

The Sonntag Academic Pavil-ion opens. ■

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Barrow Magazine Robert Spetzler, MD12

■ Robert Spetzler, MD, has been at thehelm of Barrow Neurological Institute formore than half of its 50 years. Here, thedirector reflects on Barrow’s remarkablepast and looks ahead to a dramatically different future.

You’ve said that you wanted to bea neurosurgeon since you were aboy. What drew you to medicine?Truth be told, I don’t know where my

desire to practice medicine came from. Ijust know that it is what I always wantedto do. However, my first personal health-care experience, as a five-year-old boy inGermany, no doubt helped shape my viewsabout patient care.I had been diagnosed with tetanus, and

the doctors saw little hope for survival.Ultimately, they tried a new drug, penicillin,which killed the bacteria. The case was acelebrated success, and I mostly enjoyed theattention, with the exception of one verytraumatic event in which I was presentedto a large audience of physicians. The pro-fessor placed me on a small table in the mid-dle of the stage and unceremoniouslyundressed me so he could perform a neu-rological exam. I still shudder at the humil-iation I felt. This experience has stood outas a lifelong lesson to make every effort toavoid putting my patients into similar sit-uations.

How did you end up at Barrow?In 1983, I received a request from Dr.

John Green to consider the position ofchairman of neurosurgery. I met so manyincredible people on that visit, and mywife, Nancy, and I fell in love with Phoenix.There was so much potential here that Icouldn’t turn it down. Dr. Green had established a threefold

purpose for Barrow that included patientcare, research and medical education, andthat three-legged stool is still our founda-tion today. Nearly 30 years later, Barrow’s

potential for the future continues to inspiremy colleagues and me.

Are there any particular patientsthat stand out?Absolutely. I remember Mrs. Jones, a

young pregnant mother with a basilarartery aneurysm that had ruptured. It wasin the worst possible location in the brainfor surgery; however, using a techniquecalled hypothermic cardiac arrest, or car-diac standstill, we were able to clip theaneurysm. No pregnant patient with ananeurysm had ever been placed into car-diac arrest before. Incredibly, both moth-er and child survived.But on the other side, there are many

patients who I wish I could treat againafter the knowledge I have gained fromtheir poor results. They have been mygreatest teachers. Kathy was a beautiful little girl with a

cavernous malformation, a benign tumorin the brainstem. We performed a difficultoperation and were gratified to see signif-icant improvement. Unfortunately, Kathydeveloped a venous stroke and passed awaywithin 48 hours. By going over the caseagain and again, we realized that the largeabnormal veins associated with this cav-ernous malformation carry out normalfunction. We now know that it is critical thatthese associated veins are preserved. Kathytaught us this, and today countless patientshave benefited from this knowledge.

Aside from these clinical lessons,what life lessons do you hope toimpart to Barrow’s residents?I have told my residents ad nauseam

that there are two blessings in life: to behappy at home and happy at work. I havebeen incredibly blessed on both counts. Ibelieve it is your attitude, in large part,that paves the road to happiness.

Up close and personal with Barrow’s director

Robert Spetzler, MD

by Sarah Padilla

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Robert Spetzler, MD Barrow Magazine 13

You are a role model to so many. Who do you look up to?There are many heroes who have helped shape my life,

from Albert Schweitzer, a missionary physician, to Gandhi.But I also have a very personal hero—my youngest broth-er, Bertram, an orthopedic surgeon who became a quadri-plegic after a biking accident in 2008. In a split second, helost his surgical profession, his ability to be independentand his livelihood. He had every reason to be bitter andrage at the injustice that serendipity had thrown at him.Instead, he stayed positive, and he lives his life fully withoutbitterness or regrets. He remains extremely grateful for whathe has received in life and makes those he meets feel thank-ful for their own good fortune.

As director of Barrow, what are you most proud of?Barrow has achieved a level of recognition of which we

can all be proud, from being named a top 10 hospital to per-forming more neurosurgeries than any other facility in theUnited States. I’m particularly proud of creating the largestneurosurgery residency program in the country. I like to saythat we teach tomorrow’s medicine today. But, what I’m most proud of, very simply, are the people

I work with—my neurosurgical and neurological colleagues;all the physicians, nurses and techs who play a role in patientcare; the benefactors who help fund our work; and, of course,the patients we treat. All of the lovely notes I receive frompatients attest to the fact that our team has achieved a degreeof excellence that is a source of great pride.

What do the next 50 years have in store for Barrow?We’re going to see dramatic changes, both at Barrow

and in the neurosciences as a whole. I believe that Barrow will be at the forefront of finding

answers to some of the most devastating neurological con-ditions—Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, degener-ative disk disease. Malignant brain tumors will be effective-ly treated and controlled. And the Barrow Center forNeuromodulation has an incredible potential impact onsociety. We will help nonfunctional individuals becomefunctional again, and that is remarkable. Barrow surgeons will largely put themselves out of busi-

ness in the coming years. Rapid advances in minimally inva-sive surgery, and gene and stem-cell treatments will meanthat the traditional role of the brain and spine surgeon willdisappear. Our profession will drastically change, and thatis very good news. ■

“I still shudder at the

humiliation I felt. This

experience has stood out as a

lifelong lesson to make every

effort to avoid putting my

patients into similar situations.”

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Barrow Magazine Neurosurgery Evolution14

Out of the dark into the light

Neurosurgery Evolution

by Melissa Morrison

■ The surgeon drills gently into the skull, sensitive to themoment he has broken through the bone’s barrier but hasstopped short of actual brain. With access established, he sawsa porthole the size of a poker chip into the 43-year-oldfemale patient’s head. He hands the bone to the scrub nursefor safekeeping in a sterile blue plastic dish.“Bring in the scope,” the surgeon says. A nurse swings what

is essentially a giant microscope in front of him.Peering through it, cautery in one hand, scalpel in the

other, he slices millimeters at a time into the tough membranerevealed by the missing bone. As he progresses, he lifts theflap to reveal the solid lump attached underneath. It’s atumor the size of a walnut that, if ignored, would have grownlarger, crowding the brain beneath it, suffocating its oxygensupply and eventually erasing its functions—perhaps eventhe life of its owner, a supermarket cashier from Peoria.The tumor excised, the surgeon retraces his steps, replac-

ing the bone, then stapling the skin over it. For a few vulnerable moments, however, the exposed brain

pulsated in the open air, glistening, a diaphanous web of veinsoverlaying it like a map of newly charted territory.

“...the results were discouraging” Neurosurgery’s history is one of mapping that terrain, an

adventure as risky in its early years as an actual expeditionto parts unknown. The patient had an equal chance of dying as surviving.

The greatest cause of death was hemorrhage. Harvey Cush-ing, credited as the first modern neurosurgeon in the Unit-ed States, improved the odds considerably. In 1910, he cre-ated a silver clip that blocked blood flow during surgery.Fifteen years later, along with physicist William Bovie, he

invented an instrument that used an electrical current to coag-ulate blood. (The Bovie is still used today.) As a result, a Cush-ing patient’s chance of dying was reduced to a mere one in10.Still, actually curing the patient remained a gamble.“To find any young man who would even consider going

into this field was a real problem,” wrote Ernest Sachs, a Cush-ing colleague, in a memoir. “House officers disliked work-ing in neurosurgery because the results were so discourag-ing. The number of times that craniotomies were done andthe tumor not found was disheartening, to say the least, andrequired a stiff upper lip.” Fast-forward to the 21st century, when a tumor the size

of a pea deep within the brain’s most valuable real estate canbe identified before the first incision is made.“Success is easily measured by, one, removing the offend-

ing lesion; and two, maintaining the quality of life of thepatient,” says Robert Spetzler, MD, Barrow NeurologicalInstitute’s director since 1986.Likewise, neurosurgery’s evolving technology and tech-

nique have been focused on locating the problem and get-ting to it in the least invasive way possible. Barrow has beenat the forefront of several key explorations.Dr. Spetzler considers Barrow’s greatest contribution on

that score to be its treatment of a type of vascular abnormalitythat leaks blood into the brain. A cavernous malformation,basically a wad of capillaries, can develop anywhere in thecentral nervous system, but those in the brainstem are par-ticularly dicey because the region regulates the basic func-tions of life, such as breathing. “We have devised new avenues to get to this place that

had previously been considered inoperable,” Dr. Spetzler

Neurosurgery’s history is one of mapping unknown terrain, an adventureas risky in its early years as an actual expedition to parts unknown.

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Neurosurgery Evolution Barrow Magazine 15

says. “Since billions of fibers run through the brainstem, whichis the gateway to the rest of the body, you can affect anything.You can affect speech, movement of your arms and legs,breathing, bowel and bladder.”Barrow has pioneered safer pathways to such hard-to-

reach lesions, including dodging crucial blood vessels. “It isoften just a few-millimeters access point,” Dr. Spetzler says.The result is a better outcome and a shorter recovery time

for the patient. That is true even for less life-threateninglesions, such as pituitary adenomas.The pituitary gland is located in the center of the skull.

Tumors there, usually benign, occur in 1 out of 1,000 adults.They can wreak havoc by accelerating the release of hormonescontrolled by the gland; for example, excessive growth hor-mone results in abnormally large hands, feet and facial fea-tures in an adult, a condition so pronounced that some earlysufferers found work as circus freaks.The first surgeries to remove pituitary tumors involved

removing the front side of the skull and reaching beneath thefrontal lobe, the region of the brain responsible for highermental functions, such as problem-solving. In 1977, WilliamWhite, MD, performed Barrow’s first transsphenoidalapproach—a much less invasive technique that reaches thetarget through the nasal cavity. It is now the most commonroute, and far easier on the patient.“In the old days people would be in the hospital for a week

to 10 days,” says Dr. White, who began his neurosurgery careerat Barrow. “Now they go home on the second post-op day.”

“...as if you had cut off the top ofthe head and looked right in” The advancement of neurosurgery is as much about tech-

nology as it is technique. New ways of mapping the brain havetransformed the field.Computerized guidance systems identify the safest route

to the offending lesion, so the surgeon knows the precise angleand location of approach. For example, the recent introduc-tion of a carbon-dioxide laser that vaporizes a fiber’s-widthtunnel through brain tissue enables Barrow to reach previ-ously inaccessible cavernous malformations. But when Barrow opened, imaging was far more primitive.

“If you go back to the early days of Barrow, there was noreal way to look inside the head directly,” says Joseph Heis-erman, MD, a Barrow neuroradiologist. “There were ways todiagnose problems in the brain, but indirectly. The only wayto see what the problem was, was to do neurosurgery.”

One early imaging method involved injecting air into braincavities and then x-raying the head. The technique was stillin use when Dr. White, fresh out of the University of KansasSchool of Medicine, showed up at Barrow for his residencyin 1970. He describes a mechanism known as an isocentricchair:“We’d do a spinal tap and fill the patient’s head full of air,”

he says. “It gave them a tremendous headache. Then this chairwould spin and somersault to move the air into the differ-ent cavities—which would make the headache even worse—so we could outline the brain and localize brain tumors.”The “Eureka!” moment in brain imaging came with the

invention of computed tomography (CT) in the 1970s.“CT scans use computers that make images as if you

had cut off the top of the head and looked right in,” Dr. Heis-erman says. “Now you could actually see the lesions: wherethey were, what they looked like.”John Hodak, MD, a radiologist who specialized in the cen-

tral nervous system, pioneered the use of CT scans, bring-ing the first to Barrow in 1975. Previously, a general radiol-ogist interpreted images of the brain.“He brought skills that upped the game and helped make

more subtle diagnoses,” Dr. Heiserman says. About a decade later, magnetic resonance imaging was

another giant leap forward. The MRI’s spinning magnetcreates a super-conducting field that pulls the patient’s atoms

“If you go back to the early days of

Barrow, there was no real way to

look inside the head directly. The

only way to see what the problem

was, was to do neurosurgery.”

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Barrow Magazine Neurosurgery Evolution16

into a formation that results in detailed internal images. “Rather than just see the lesions themselves, you could

see subtle changes in the brain and blood vessels,” Dr. Heis-erman says. Unlike a spinning isocentric chair, all the patientmust endure is the machine’s loud electronic burps andclangs.

“...so they can know exactly wherethey need to go”Since the MRI, imaging technology has been steadily

refined. Dr. Heiserman describes a navigation techniquesimilar to placing a divining rod on the patient’s head thattransmits to surgeons a computerized picture of what’sdirectly underneath “so they can know exactly where theyneed to go,” he says.Such technology has helped reduce the need for surger-

ies in which the patient stays awake, which are among themost challenging cases. The placement of deep-brain implantsto control Parkinson’s disease or surgical ablation to controlintractable seizures are two examples.Lisa Wilkinson-Fannin, MD, Barrow’s first neuroanes-

thesiologist, recalls the balancing act.“These are difficult cases for the patient and the anes-

thesiologist because it is necessary to communicate withthe patient, but also to medicate them in order to keep themcomfortable and pain free,” says Dr. Wilkinson-Fannin, whoretired in 2006.While the surgeon was probing the patient’s brain, the

patient had to answer questions to ensure that the parts ofthe brain known as “eloquent tissue” weren’t being damaged.“They would be asked to repeat numbers or sentences to

make sure areas of speech were not being affected, or shownpictures of things and asked to identify them,” she says.More recently, however, a functional MRI done before

surgery looks at blood flow to the brain when a patient is askedto speak and move. The resulting map allows surgeons toestablish beforehand where such tissue is located in an indi-vidual patient and avoid it.Neurosurgery’s evolution has not just made life easier on

the patient, but also on the doctor.

As Barrow’s first dedicated neuroanesthesiologist, Dr.Wilkinson-Fannin was also its only one for three years,which meant she was constantly on call. Some cases lastedas long as 15 hours—she recalls one that took 23 hours andinvolved a tumor in a particularly difficult location.Sometimes physicians would have to request a pause in

longer surgeries so they could use the bathroom or eat anddrink. Improvements in neurosurgical technique and tech-nology have shortened surgeries, while advances in anes-thesiology have improved outcomes, Dr. Wilkinson-Fanninsays. Aided by technology, specialties such as radiology and

anesthesia enable today’s surgeons to know even the mostremote regions of the brain. Certain territory, however,remains stubbornly inscrutable.“The most common primary brain tumor is a glioblas-

toma. And it’s also the most malignant,” Dr. White says.“There’s been a lot of research on that since I was a resident,and I don’t think we’ve added four to six months of lifeexpectancy to those patients.”

Neurosurgery’s steep and steady advancement holdspromise that even these most deadly of brain tumors, too,will eventually be vanquished. “There’s a lot of tantalizing hopes that, as time marches

on, we will make a difference,” Dr. Spetzler says. “Withtumors, it is to put these abnormal cells asleep so they don’tmultiply. I think that’s the next step.”

Neurosurgery in the future may

not even involve actual surgery.

DNA research will determine ways

to prevent brain tumors

and abnormal blood vessels

from developing.

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Neurosurgery Evolution Barrow Magazine 17

In other words, neurosurgery in the future may not eveninvolve actual surgery. DNA research, including that doneat Barrow, will determine ways to prevent brain tumors andabnormal blood vessels from developing, Dr. Spetzler says.Already, he points out, noninvasive techniques such as

Gamma Knife—in which radiation beams are directedthrough the skull very precisely at a tumor—have taken thescalpel and drill out of the procedure.“As we move along that continuum of progress, we are

going to get rid of neurosurgery as we know it now,” Dr. Spet-zler says. “We are going to have better and better imaging,and smaller and smaller surgical exposures. We are going torely more and more on robotic interventions.”As Dr. Heiserman says, “There hasn’t been a time in the

past 30 years when there wasn’t new innovation out there and

we weren’t thinking about new ways to use it.”As far as Kacy Hess is concerned, a brain tumor that, in

Cushing’s day, meant a 50-50 chance of surviving surgery letalone resuming her former life is, well, not a big deal.The Fry’s cashier had her first brain tumor removed a few

years ago when her sister noticed that one of her eyes lookeddifferent than the other. The culprit was several unusuallyfast-growing but benign meningiomas, requiring a total ofthree surgeries, including one earlier this year.“I wasn’t scared,” says Hess from her Peoria home, one

week post-surgery. “I figured I was in safe hands.” She had surgery on a Monday. She went home Tuesday.

By Wednesday, Hess says, she felt like herself again. ■

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Barrow TodayBarrow Neurological Institute hasbecome a leading neuroscience cen-ter—routinely recognized as one ofthe top 10 centers for neurology andneurosurgery by U.S. News & WorldReport—because of its unwaveringfocus on patient care, medical edu-cation and research. How do the brain and spine work?What causes disease? What role dogenetics play? How can we betterdiagnose and treat spine and brainproblems? How can we train youngneurologists and neurosurgeons toalways do their best for patients?What can we do to help patientsboth in the hospital and when theygo home? How can we improve theirlength and quality of life?These are the questions that Bar-row physicians, nurses, residents,researchers and staff ask every day.Their commitment to excellenceand to each and every patient hascreated a neuroscience center thatdraws patients from throughout theworld for care available at few otherhospitals.On the following pages are examplesof the medical education, patientcare and research at Barrow today.At the heart of every service, everyprogram, every research project isthe patient, Barrow’s reason forbeing.

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Barrow Magazine Barrow Today20

TRAINING TOMORROW’SDOCSKatherine Cronk, MD, PhD, is afifth-year Neurosurgery residentat Barrow. The seven-year-longNeurosurgery ResidencyProgram includes experience inBarrow surgery suites, clinics,in-patient units and researchlaboratories. It is the largestneurosurgery training programin the world and one of themost prestigious. In all, Barrowoffers 56 residency spots,including 28 in neurosurgery, 21in neurology and seven inneuropsychology. Another 26neurologists andneurosurgeons are doingfellowships in a variety ofsubspecialty areas, such asneuromuscular disease,movement disorders andepilepsy.

BEYOND BARROW’SWALLSMike Benge (right) showsBarrow neurorehabilitationpatient Bernard Dime how tomove from a car seat to awheelchair. Benge volunteersfor the Barrow Connection, anoutreach program that helpspatients like Dime live activelives after leaving the hospital.

REHABILITATIONDESTINATIONAfter a nearly fatal car crash,Dr. Jose Villela Vizcaya ofMexico City came to Barrowfor neurorehabilitation. Barrowoffers a wide range ofrehabilitation programs,including the Deborah andBruce Downey NeuroRehabilitation Center, theCenter for Transitional Neuro-Rehabilitation and the BRAINSClinic.

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Barrow Today Barrow Magazine 21

MRI EVOLUTIONJim Pipe, PhD, director of the Keller Center for Imaging and Innovation atBarrow, led the development of PROPELLER, an MRI method that giveshigh-quality images even when a patient is unable to remain still, as insome movement disorders. The bottom image illustrates how muchclearer scans are on MRI equipped with PROPELLER. Nearly everycommercial MRI system now includes PROPELLER. The Keller Center isteaming with Philips Healthcare on a new initiative to make MRI up tofour times faster.

TUMOR CELL DETECTIVEThe intraoperative confocalmicroscope, which was tested atBarrow, enables neurosurgeonsto detect individual brain tumorcells during surgery. Barrowworks with biomedicalcompanies to develop andimprove surgical tools such asthis one, including microscopes,image guidance systems andstents.

FUTURE SCIENTISTSRaj Vatsa, a sophomore at Brophy College Preparatory(second from right), and Claire Woodrow, a sophomore atXavier College Preparatory, are participating in Barrow’sScientific Enrichment Program for Students. The programgives students interested in science the opportunity to workin a lab at Barrow. The students work in the neuro-oncologylaboratory of Adrienne Scheck, PhD, along with research techEric Woolf.

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PROFESSIONALEDUCATIONBarrow hosts several annualconferences for physicians,nurses and other medicalprofessionals, including theBarrow NeurosurgerySymposium in the spring.

NEW WAYS OFOPERATING Endovascular neurosurgeonsFelipe Albuquerque, MD, andCameron McDougall, MD, arepioneering new, less invasiveways of operating on the brain.These surgeons insert thincatheters into blood vesselsand then maneuver stents, coilsand other devices through thecatheters up into the brain totreat diseased areas.

A WINDOW INTO SURGERYEller TelePresence @ TheBARROW provides an idealteaching environment for doctorsin training at Barrow. Residentsand visiting physicians can viewlive surgeries in the suite, andBarrow can broadcasteducational conferences aroundthe world via TelePresence. Thetechnology is also being used toshow live and taped surgeries inthe Neuro Theater at the ArizonaScience Center.

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Barrow Today Barrow Magazine 23

EPILEPSY AT THECELLULAR LEVELPeter N. Steinmetz, MD, PhD,is recording the electricalactivity of individual brain cellsin patients with epilepsy, suchas Guadalupe Garcia. Dr.Steinmetz and David Treiman,MD, are exploring whethersingle cell recordings mightgive epilepsy specialists a newtool for locating the center ofseizure activity in patients withhard-to-manage epilepsy. Theresearch is one of 400investigative studies underwayat the hospital.

LEARNING YOUNG TOUSE YOUR HEADAll Arizona high school studentathletes are now required tolearn about brain concussionsthrough Barrow Brainbook, awebsite designed to look andfeel like a social media site.Barrow, the ArizonaInterscholastic Association andthe Arizona Cardinals teamedup to produce the site in aneffort to reduce the incidenceand impact of concussions.

FIT FOR THE CHAMPThe Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center is the most comprehensivemovement disorders center in the country. The center bringstogether all the services needed by patients and their families . It isone of only 27 National Parkinson’s Foundation Centers ofExcellence in the U.S. The Celebrity Fight Night Foundation fundedthe center’s facility, which opened in late 2009.

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Barrow Magazine Barrow Today24

A FOCUS ON PATIENTSHelping patients navigate the many services available inthe new Barrow Brain Tumor Research Center (BBTRC) isthe job of Gracia Nicolaescu, RN, shown here with NaderSanai, MD, director of the center. The goal of the BBTRCis to extend the lives of people with brain tumors.

SURGERY STATSThe average brain or spine surgery atBarrow takes 247 minutes, includes a10-person operating team andrequires at least 50 basic instruments.Barrow has the busiest neurosurgerycenter in the country, performingabout 5,000 operations annually.

SPECIALTYNEUROLOGYCLINICSBenjamin Seltzer,MD, is the directorof the BarrowCenter forAlzheimer’sDisease andCognitiveDisorders. Otherspecialty clinics atBarrow focus onacoustic neuroma,hypothalamichamartoma,normal pressurehydrocephalus,stroke, epilepsy,multiple sclerosis,Lou Gehrig’sdisease, braintumors andParkinson’sdisease.

ANEURYSM EXPERTISERobert Spetzler, MD, directorof Barrow, has performedmore aneurysm surgeries thanany other neurosurgeon in theworld—more than 5,900 andcounting. Barrow conductsongoing research to assessthe effectiveness of differentsurgical options. One trial, forexample, compares theeffectiveness of endoscopicprocedures to craniotomiesfor treating aneurysms.

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HIGHLY SKILLED NURSESNicole Ballantyne, RN, CNRN, caresfor Jeanne Albert in theNeurotelemetry Unit at Barrow.Ballantyne is one of about 135certified neuroscience registerednurses at Barrow, the largest groupof CNRNs in the country.

GRAPHIC DETAILThe BarrowNeurosciencePublications Officeannually publishesmore than 200 peer-reviewed journalarticles, books andchapters written byBarrow physicians andscientists. The officealso creates detailedanatomicalillustrations, such asthis image, for use inpublications, residenttraining and publiceducation.

KNIFELESS SURGERYRadiosurgery offers a non-invasive way to destroy tumorsand other lesions in the brainor spine. Barrow has the onlyGamma Knife and CyberKniferadiosurgery devices in Arizona.David Brachman, MD, medicaldirector of Radiation Oncology,is shown with CyberKnife.

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Arizona is known for brilliant sunsets, iconic saguaros, the Grand Canyon... and Barrow Neurolog-ical Institute. An estimated 1,500 people from outside Arizona come to Barrow each year for life-saving care. To date, Barrow has treated patients from all 50 states and from more than 50 countries.

In celebration of Barrow’s golden anniversary, we’ve asked patients, physicians, staff and bene-factors to tell their Barrow story. You can hear and watch their stories at Barrow50.org. About 24videos are currently on the site, and one will be added each week through the rest of 2012, Barrow’s50th anniversary year.

Here are a few examples of the stories taped for Barrow’s 50 Years, 50 Faces project:

Barrow Magazine 50 Years, 50 Faces26

50 Years, 50 FacesPatients, doctors, nurses tell their story at Barrow50.org

When Erik Humphrey of Phoenix was diagnosed with a malignant braintumor in 2003, he was given only a 20 percent chance of surviving another threeyears.

After discussing his options with his wife, the 32-year-old man agreed toundergo aggressive surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy at Barrow. KrisSmith, MD, was his neurosurgeon.

Now, eight years later, Humphrey’s tumor has not returned. Since his diag-nosis, he and his wife have had three children. Humphrey has learned to skiand hike, and today manages a successful interior design firm.

“I’m thankful every day that I’m here and grateful to Barrow, Dr. Smith andhis staff. They saved my life.”

In 2010, Ryan Westmorelandwas considered a top prospect for the BostonRed Sox. Then he was diagnosed with a very complex cavernous malforma-tion, an abnormal cluster of blood vessels that had caused his brain to bleedand was resulting in paralysis. The deadly malformation was located in his brain-stem—the part of the brain that controls all vital life functions.

Westmoreland sought the top brain surgeons in the medical field andselected Robert Spetzler, MD, at Barrow to operate on him.

“I went from not being able to throw the ball 10 feet to now where I’m pret-ty much doing everything any other professional baseball player is doing,” saysWestmoreland.

Ilya Morch was 15 when she flew from Denmark to Barrow for brain sur-gery. It was 2009, and Morch had already undergone five brain surgeries forcerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs), abnormal clusters of vessels in thebrain that hemorrhage easily.

But one difficult CCM remained, and when Morch began showing signsof paralysis, her parents knew they had to act quickly. “We wanted the best placein the world, and that’s when we found Barrow,” says her mother, Karin.

Robert Spetzler, MD, successfully removed the large lesion, using a surgi-cal approach that was researched and developed at Barrow.

“Barrow gave my daughter a new life,” says Karin in their Barrow 50th video.

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50 Years, 50 Faces Barrow Magazine 27

Cat Kozuch was treated at Bar-row for a severe spinal cord injury shesuffered while on spring break inRocky Point. When she arrived atBarrow, she could not move her legs.Barrow spine surgeon Nicholas

Theodore, MD, removed fragmentsof two vertebrae that had shatteredinto her spinal cord. Just three months later, Kozuch

was walking again and went on tomake a remarkable recovery. Manypatients with this type of spinal cordinjury do not improve. “From day one I wouldn’t pic-

ture myself in a wheelchair andpushed myself to get well,” saysKozuch. “I’m grateful to be standingon two feet again.”

Joe Garagiola came to Barrow in2009 with a large tumor behind hisleft eye. Untreated, the tumor couldrob him of his vision and cause a stroke,speech difficulties and other problems. Barrow neurosurgeon Joseph

Zabramski, MD, operated to removethe tumor while preserving the base-ball legend’s vision. Using a sophisti-cated imaging system to identify tumortissue, Dr. Zabramski removed as muchof the tumor as possible.Then, Garagiola underwent

CyberKnife treatment to eliminate anyremaining tumor tissue. Garagiola has made a real come-

back. He works out to rebuild hisstrength and has returned to the Ari-zona Diamondbacks broadcast booth.

In 2009, Isobel Malloch-Brownflew from the United Kingdom toBarrow to undergo surgery for acomplex structural problem of herbrain stem and spinal cord.Malloch-Brown, 15, had a Chiari

malformation and a basilar invagi-nation. The abnormalities were put-ting pressure on her brainstem andspinal cord, and causing migraines,breathing difficulties and seizures. Determined to find the best sur-

geon for their daughter, Malloch-Brown’s parents learned of CurtisDickman, MD, a leading expert onthis area of the brain.Dr. Dickman was not only suc-

cessful in correcting the girl’s struc-tural problem, he did so in just oneoperation instead of two.

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■ Barrow Neurological Institute is well positioned to makebreakthrough discoveries in a wide range of neurological dis-orders in the next 50 years.Benefactors will be critical to these efforts. Contributions

will enable Barrow to invest in the facilities, technology,medical education, research and patient care that will drivenew discoveries and result in improved care.Listed below are areas that need donor support. Consider

being part of Barrow’s amazing future by making a donationtoday. All gifts, whatever the size, will contribute to keep-ing Barrow at the leading edge of medicine. Call 602-406-3041 for more information or to make a gift,

or give online at SupportBarrow.org. A giving envelope isincluded in this magazine.

Barrow Brain Tumor Research CenterThe goal of the Barrow Brain Tumor Research Center is toextend the lives of people with brain tumors, especiallythose with glioblastomas, the most deadly type of braintumor. The center is establishing independent laboratories,each focused on an area of research. Discoveries in the labswill be made available to patients through clinical trials. Asa result, Barrow patients will have access to new, promisingtreatments before they are available at other centers. The Bar-row Brain Tumor Research Center is a legacy project ofRobert Spetzler, MD. To learn more, visit SupportBBTRC.org.

Barrow Center for NeuromodulationThe Barrow Center for Neuromodulation, a legacy projectof Dr. Spetzler will explore and expand the use of therapies

that restore or improve function in patients by correctingabnormal electrical or chemical activity in the brain. The cen-ter’s goal is to offer new hope and help to patients strugglingwith such disorders as depression, epilepsy, obsessive com-pulsive disorder and Alzheimer’s disease. The center’s firstfocus is deep brain stimulation, a therapy that has proveneffective for Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor and thatappears promising for many other disorders. For more infor-mation, visit SupportBCN.org.

Gregory W. Fulton ALS and Neuromuscular Disorders ClinicThe Gregory W. Fulton ALS and Neuromuscular DisordersClinic will focus on some of mankind’s cruelest diseases,including ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. The goal of the cen-ter is to establish an integrated research and patient care cen-ter where patients can get exceptional care and education,along with access to cutting-edge research. More informa-tion is available at SupportBarrowALS.org.

Neurology FellowshipsBarrow hopes to establish eight new neurology fellowshipsin the next few years. These physician-training programs giveyoung neurologists the opportunity to receive subspecialtytraining in a narrow area of neurology. Fellows conductresearch and see patients in Barrow’s neurology clinics. Fel-lowships provide well-trained specialists for our community.

Endovascular Neurosurgery FellowshipsBarrow plans to establish two new fellowships in endovas-

Barrow Magazine Amazing Future28

An Amazing Futurewith your continued support

Larry Santoro, who has Parkinson’sdisease, says, “Deep brainstimulation gave me back my life.”The new Barrow Center forNeuromodulation will make deepbrain stimulation (DBS) available tomore patients like Santoro. Inaddition, the Center will explore theuse of DBS and other types ofneuromodulation for the treatmentof a wide variety of disorders fromdepression and bipolar disorder toAlzheimer’s disease and epilepsy.

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cular neurosurgery. Endovascular procedures are performedin an angiography suite rather than a regular surgery suite.Endovascular neurosurgeons use x-ray guidance and thincatheters inserted into the body’s system of blood vessels toperform diagnostic and surgical procedures. The two fel-lowships would give young neurosurgeons subspecialtytraining in this emerging field of medicine.

Endowed Chairs in Stroke, Neurobiology, Neuro-trauma and NeurorehabilitationEndowed chairs in specialty areas of neurology help attractleading physician-scientists. Ongoing revenue generated bythe endowments enable these physician-scientists to conductresearch and participate in educational activities.

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency and FellowshipBarrow offers excellent neurorehabilitation programs, includ-ing the Deborah and Bruce Downey Neuro RehabilitationCenter, the Center for Transitional NeuroRehabilitation andthe BRAINS Clinic. What is missing are educational oppor-tunities in this area. This initiative would establish a residencyand fellowship program for physical medicine and neu-rorehabilitation.

Research SupportContributions to research at Barrow allows Barrow Neuro-logical Foundation to provide seed funding for promisingresearch ideas. Gifts of all sizes are welcome. ■

Amazing Future Barrow Magazine 29

The new Gregory W. Fulton ALS and NeuromuscularDisorders Clinic will help people like Brett Booge, whohas ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Marilyn Parke, a memberof the Women’s Board ofBarrow NeurologicalFoundation, receivedrehabilitation in theCenter for TransitionalNeuroRehabilitation aftersustaining a head injuryin an auto accident. ThePhysical Medicine andRehabilitation Residencyand Fellowship programwill prepare youngneurologists for thisimportant area ofmedicine.

Help make Barrow’s future brightPlease consider making a gift in honor of Barrow’s50th anniversary. You can choose to support aparticular project or make an unrestricted gift thatcan be used for the area of greatest need. Thereare many ways to give. Visit our website—SupportBarrow.org—to learn more or to make anonline gift. You can also call our office at 602-406-3041 or use the postage-paid giving envelopeincluded in this magazine.

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Barrow Magazine Brain Plumbers30

■ Jennifer Kane, 43, had had migraines on and off for years,but her pain intensified and became constant in 2011. “It feltlike someone had hit me on the head with a shovel,” she says.“The pain pulsated to the bone, and I would come home fromwork every day and go to bed with ice on my head.” On a Monday in September, the pain became so debili-

tating that Kane, a medical assistant, left work early. The onlything she remembers after that is telling her daughter tocall 9-1-1. She was taken to Banner Del Webb Medical Cen-ter and then quickly transferred to Barrow NeurologicalInstitute. Kane’s left vertebral artery—one of two arteries in the neck

that supply blood to the brain—had ruptured as a result ofa disruption in the vessel wall known as a dissection.A dissection occurs in a blood vessel wall when the lay-

ers of the wall become separated. Blood pulses through thelayers further separating and distorting the vessel walls.Eventually, the outer layer can rupture, spewing blood intothe brain.Kane spent the next 2½ weeks at Barrow in a coma—a

stay that included several life-threatening complicationscreated by the hemorrhage, including a stroke, respiratoryfailure and hydrocephalus. “Jennifer was in bad shape, and it took a team of med-

ical experts to care for her,” says Cameron McDougall, MD,chief of endovascular neurosurgery at Barrow. “Her heart mus-cle was not pumping normally due to the brain hemor-rhage, and her heart couldn’t generate adequate blood pres-sure to supply her brain with enough blood. If we moved heror took head scans, her blood pressure would drop, so shefirst had to be stabilized with a balloon pump.” Kane’s situation was compounded by the fact that she had

only one vertebral artery instead of the two that most peo-ple have. “Normally, we can treat a vertebral artery dissection by

simply blocking off the damaged artery endovascularlybecause the other healthy artery will provide enough bloodflow for the brain. We didn’t have that option in Jennifer’scase,” Dr. McDougall says. Instead, the Barrow team used a Pipeline Embolization

Device (PED) to stabilize the ruptured artery. This device wasapproved by the FDA in 2011 for the treatment of complexaneurysms. Barrow was the second largest site in the clini-cal trial that tested the PED technique prior to its approval,but the trial was only for unruptured aneurysms in thecarotid circulation.

“Very few ruptured aneurysms have been treated this way,”Dr. McDougall says, “and there were significant concernsabout using the device to treat a ruptured arterial dissection.”During the procedure, Dr. McDougall threaded the PED

device, a flexible mesh tube, through a thin catheter, or tube,inserted into Jennifer’s leg and then up to the ruptured arteryin her neck. Once in place, the stent was expanded to fit againstthe artery walls and stabilize the damaged vessel.“The PED is like a glorified stent. It keeps blood flow-

ing through the damaged artery while allowing the artery toheal,” Dr. McDougall says. Kane realized the depth of her health ordeal while under-

going intense physical therapy for short-term memory lossand mild weakness on her right side. In a short span, she’smade a remarkable recovery, and though she still deals withmemory issues, she sees improvement every day and is ableto care for her two children. “I don’t know if I’m ever going to be like I was, but I’m

doing well, and I’m thankful. I should have died, but Dr.McDougall saved my life. I’m supposed to be here for a reason.” ■

Brain PlumbersEndovascular neurosurgeons operate from insideblood vessels to treat woman’s difficult condition

When a vital artery supplying

Jennifer Kane’s brain with

blood ruptured, Barrow

endovascular neurosurgeons

used a new and unusual

approach to deal with her

life-threatening emergency.

by Sally Clasen

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Brain Plumbers Barrow Magazine 31

The two medical illustrations belowshow how Cameron McDougall, MD,maneuvered the Pipeline EmbolizationDevice into the damaged vessel inJennifer Kane’s neck to stabilize thevessel and correct blood flow. Theseillustrations were created by the BarrowNeuroscience Publications Department.

Hematomaor bleed

pseudoaneurysm

tear

blood flow

pipelinedevice

blood flow

Before

After

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■ Most people had never heard ofHuntington’s disease (HD) until Janu-ary 2012 when Kathleen Edward—a 9-year-old Michigan girl who made head-lines for being bullied onFacebook—died from the neurologicaldisease that also claimed the lives of hermother and grandmother.Though not as well known as

Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other neu-rological disorders, HD is a hereditarydisease that is just as devastating topatients and their families, accordingto Arshia Sadreddin, MD, a movementdisorders specialist at Barrow Neuro-logical Institute.“Approximately 25,000 people are

affected by HD in the United States,”says Dr. Sadreddin, who treats the high-est number of HD patients in theSouthwest.As an autosomal dominant disor-

der, HD is passed down via a defectivegene through family members andattacks nerve cells that cause parts ofthe brain to slowly deteriorate. “Eachchild of a carrier has a 50 percentchance of inheriting the gene and beingdiagnosed with HD,” says Dr. Sadred-din. The neurodegenerative disease pro-

duces gradual motor and cognitiveproblems but psychiatric issues tend toappear early in many individuals. “It cancause severe depression and anxiety,”explains Dr. Sadreddin.

Mistaken for intoxicationEventually many with HD develop

involuntary movements. The mostcommon type is referred to as chorea,which are random, dance-like twistingand jerky movements that start mild-

Barrow Magazine Huntington’s Disease32

Huntington’s DiseaseLittle-known movement disorder proves devastating for patients and families

Barrow treats the largest number

of patients with Huntington’s disease

in the Soutwest.

by Sally Clasen

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ly and then progress. It can cause many to appear as if theyare intoxicated due to the abnormal movements and errat-ic behavior. “Those with HD are often in trouble with the law since

their behavior is misunderstood. It’s a frustrating disease, andthe suicide rate is high with HD,” Dr. Sadreddin says.In retrospect, Gordon Sanders believes his wife, Marcil-

la, began to exhibit emotional issues well before she wasdiagnosed with HD 10 years ago. “She blamed me for everything. I was the anti-Christ,” he

says of her erratic moods. The couple has been married for46 years and worked together as scuba instructors but sep-arated for a while due to the strain. It was during that timethat Marcilla was diagnosed with HD. “It all made sense then,” Gordon says of her evolving symp-

toms, which included falling down and making gruntingsounds for no reason. “Her father was a carrier, but we wereblind-sided. We had never heard of HD.”Gordon is dedicated to his wife and provides her 24-hour

care, although most HD patients end up in a care facility,according to Dr. Sadreddin. Marcilla is prescribed medica-tions to quell the chorea and manage her emotions, but sheis nearly immobile and eats with a feeding tube. While her decline is noticeable, Gordon says Marcilla’s

condition has improved since being treated by Dr. Sadred-din. “I learned more about HD from Dr. Sadreddin in 15 min-utes than in the last 10 years,” he says. “She blows me awaywith her knowledge, and she really takes the time to describewhat is happening to my wife.”

Money needed for researchDue to its unique factors, HD takes a heavy psycho-

social toll on patients, families and caregivers. To address theeffects, Dr. Sadreddin uses a multidisciplinary approach totreating the disease. A free support group for anyone affect-ed by HD is held monthly at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Med-ical Center. Group attendance averages 30 participants andreflects the high number of those affected by HD in theSouthwest. Yet, HD and its debilitating effects suffer from an image

problem. Gordon believes that if HD had the star power ofother neurological disorders, it would shed some much-needed public awareness on the disease. “It’s not my wife’s fault that she has HD. It’s the luck of

the draw. If a big name came forward, like a Michael J. Foxor a Muhammad Ali, we could increase interest and gener-ate money for HD research. We have the experts at Barrowwho can do this. We just need funding.” Dr. Sadreddin agrees. “Much more research is needed to

better understand the pathophysiology of the disease and tohelp develop treatments to reduce symptoms, alter the dis-ease course, slow the progression and one day cure HD,” shesays. “We plan to start by enrolling our HD patient popula-

tion in a global registry to accumulate important data on Hunt-ington’s disease. My goal is also to partner with colleaguesaround the country with their efforts on stem-cell research,gene therapy and neuromodulation. Ultimately, my hope isthat Barrow becomes a center of excellence for HD.” ■

Huntington’s Disease Barrow Magazine 33

Huntington’s disease servicesArshia Sadreddin, MD, a movement disordersspecialist at the Muhammad Ali ParkinsonCenter, treats the highest number ofHuntington’s disease patients in theSouthwest. A free support group for patientsand their families is held the third Monday ofeach month at 6 p.m. in rooms 4 and 5 of St. Joseph’s Conference Center. Barrow alsooffers genetic screening for families of HDpatients. To learn more, call 602-406-4261.

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Barrow Magazine Three Class Acts34

Three Class ActsBarrow Grand Ball, Celebrity Fight Night,Lou Grubb Friends Fore Golf raise funds for Barrow

■ Barrow Neurological Institute is proud to be sup-ported by three of our community’s classiest fundraisers:Barrow Grand Ball, Celebrity Fight Night and Lou GrubbFriends Fore Golf. This year’s events celebrated Barrow’s50th anniversary and raised significant funds to helpensure a bright future for the institute.

Barrow Grand BallThe Women’s Board launched Barrow Neurological

Institute’s 50th anniversary with a special edition of theBarrow Grand Ball. Guests to the event, held Jan. 21 atthe Arizona Biltmore, were encouraged to make “Giftsof Gold” in honor of Barrow’s golden anniversary. Theblack-tie fundraiser netted $1.9 million for Barrow. NitaFrancis and Nancy Gaintner were co-chairmen. Of spe-cial note are these exceptional contributions:

Chief of StaffPhilip L. and Juanita F. Francis, The F2 Family Foun-dation - underwriting of the 2012 Barrow Grand Ball

Mr. and Mrs. David Glew - Neurosurgery ResearchThe Bruce T. Halle Family Foundation - B.R.A.I.N.S.Clinic Collaboration

Mr. and Mrs. Lee T. Hanley, Hanley Family Charitable Trust - Barrow Center for Neuromodula-tion

Charles and Lynne Schusterman Family Foundation- Tel Aviv University/BBTRC collaboration on “SplitImmunity” Human Glioma Vaccine

Gift of GoldAnonymous - Barrow Center for NeuromodulationMr. and Mrs. Bennett Dorrance - In honor of RobertF. Spetzler, MD

Mr. and Mrs. Karl Eller - 3D TelemedicineMr. and Mrs. Robert C. Hobbs, Sr. - Karen and RobertHobbs and the Hobbs Family Grant for Multiple Sclerosis Research

Julie Ann Wrigley Foundation - In honor of Patricia Gen-try, Barrow Brain Tumor Research Center

Dr. and Mrs. Volker K.H. Sonntag - NeurosurgeryResearch

Dr. and Mrs. Robert F. Spetzler - Neurosurgery Research

Above, Nita Francis,Penny Gunning andNancy Gaintner.Right, Ross and JudyShannon. Bottom,Ardie and SteveEvans.

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Three Class Acts Barrow Magazine 35

Mrs. Jane Wallace Thorne - Neurosurgery ResearchU.S. Airways - In honor of C.A. Howlett, “Helmet Your Head”Brain Injury Prevention Program

Mr. and Mrs. Rob Walton - Barrow Center for Neuromod-ulation, Dr. Leslie Baxter

Women’s Board - Barrow Center for NeuromodulationMr. and Mrs. Michael Ziegler - Barrow Center for Neuro-modulation

White Coat FellowBarrow Neurological Institute - General Research FundMr. and Mrs. Geoffrey Edmunds - Barrow Center for Neuromodulation

Mrs. Patricia Goldman - Neurosurgery ResearchMr. and Mrs. J. Jerome Hirsch - Neuroscience ResearchMr. and Mrs. Robert H. McKee - Barrow Center for Neuromodulation; Genomics

PetSmart - Neurosurgery ResearchDJ and Terri Susan Ponville - Barrow Brain Tumor ResearchCenter

Dr. and Mrs. Nicholas Theodore - The Sonntag Academic Pavilion

Valley Anesthesiology Consultants, Ltd. - Pediatric Neuro-genetic Disease Research

Multi-Year CommitmentMr. and Mrs. Philip L. Francis - Barrow Brain Tumor ResearchCenter

Celebrity Fight Night XVIIIOn March 24, stars and athletes from around the country

converged on the J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa inPhoenix for Muhammad Ali’s Celebrity Fight Night XVIII. RebaMcEntire returned for her seventh year as emcee of the event,which this year celebrated Muhammad Ali’s 70th birthday. The2012 extravaganza raised $9.1 million for the Muhammad AliParkinson Center at Barrow and other charities; over theyears, it has raised nearly $80 million for charity. The event featured performances by Rascal Flatts, Miley

Cyrus, Rita Wilson, Michael Johns, Jackie Evancho, John Cor-bett, Sinbad and Lionel Richie, under the direction of DavidFoster. The 2012 Muhammad Ali Celebrity Fight Night Awardswere presented to Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals;Bill Austin, founder and CEO of Starkey Labs; and Diane andBruce Halle, philanthropists and founders of Discount Tire.Bob Parsons, founder and executive chairman of Go Daddy,kicked off the evening with a special $1-million donation.The black tie event included cocktails, a silent auction, an

elegant dinner and an exciting live auction. Celebrity Fight Night Foundation is a non-profit organi-

zation that was founded in 1994 by Jimmy Walker. For infor-mation, visit CelebrityFightNight.org.

From top to bottom:Lionel Richie;Muhammad Ali andMiley Cyrus; RebaMcEntire, Rita Wilsonand Tom Hanks; RascalFlatts; John Corbett.

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Barrow Magazine Three Class Acts36

Lou Grubb Friends Fore GolfThe 2012 Lou Grubb Friends Fore Golf —renamed this year

the Lou Grubb Memorial Tournament—was all about remem-bering the beloved man who created this popular fundraiser.Lou’s friends and family honored the well-known businessmanand philanthropist, who passed away earlier this year, in a bigway: The event netted about $500,000 for Barrow and St. Joseph’s—by far, the most the event has ever raised in its 39-year history. The highlight of the dinner on April 19 at Scottsdale Plaza

Resort was a tribute to Lou that began with a bagpiper per-formance. Guests watched a video about Lou’s life, and thentwo proclamations were read—one from the Governor, readby Sister Madonna Marie Bolton, and one from the ArizonaAutomotive Dealers Association, read by Uglies memberTom Ambrose. (Lou belonged to the Uglies, a group thatincluded some of his closest friends.) In attendance wereLou’s widow, Evie, and all four of their children.Roger and Kathy Maxwell received a special award for their

many years of service to the Lou Grubb event. Emcee TaraHitchcock said that she was especially touched to be part ofthe event because her stepson, Dylan Francis, was a patientat Barrow Neurological Institute the day after Lou passedaway. (See next story.)So many people signed up for the golf tournament that five

teams of women golfers held their own tournament at Camel-back Golf Club, while a full field of 260 played at McCormickRanch Golf Club. Golfers enjoyed a golf clinic with TinaTombs before the tournament, and a dinner and awards cer-emony afterward.John Dawson, Ken and Randy Kendricks, and Shelly and

Steve Butterfield provided special underwriting for the event.Sponsors were the Arizona Cardinals, Arizona Dia-

mondbacks, CBIZ, DPR Construction, Greenberg Traurig, Danand Kathy Grubb, Lou and Evelyn Grubb, Bill and LindaHunt, Kitchell, Roger and Kathy Maxwell, Panoramic Press,St. Joseph’s Health & Wealth Raffle, Symmetry Software andXerox. Tournament co chairs were Mike Medici and Dennis Sage.

Other committee members were Greg Anderson, Scottie But-ton, Brent Cannon, Dawn Cirri, Hamilton Espinosa, Book-er T. Evans, Michael Haenel, Bill Hunt, Stuart Kirk, KathyKramer, Roger Maxwell, Larry Mayhew, Loui Olivas, Tom Rea-hard, Anne Robbs, Lee Rosenthal, Dennis Scully, JoanneSpringrose and Kelli Smith. ■

Photos from top:Kathy Watson, MarciReed, Dr. OmerReed, JoAnnWanamaker, EvieGrubb; Booker T.Evans, Al Loveless,Ethan Pajak andJason Pajak; a ladiesfoursome; LouGrubb; RogerMaxwell.

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St. Joseph’s Amazing Barrow Magazine 37

Dylan Francisby Sarah PadillaIn her 15 years as a reporter and morning show anchor

for Channel 3’s Good Morning, Arizona, Tara Hitchcock cov-ered her share of inspirational stories about Barrow patients,families and staff. The Valley resident never imagined thatone day the tables would be turned.But on Jan. 25, Hitchcock’s 16-year-old stepson, Dylan

Francis, was hanging out with friends when his left ear start-ed ringing and the left side of his face went numb. Withinminutes, he was vomiting.Dylan was rushed to Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn

Medical Center, where a CT scan revealed what doctors ini-tially identified as a cancerous brain tumor. “When they putup the results of the scan, everyone in the ER went silent,”says Kenn Francis, Dylan’s father. “We knew then thatsomething was significantly wrong.”Dylan was immediately transferred to Barrow, where

Nader Sanai, MD, made the official diagnosis—an arteri-ovenous malformation (AVM), a tangled mass of blood ves-sels, at the base of his brain. The AVM had ruptured, caus-ing bleeding and the potential for serious brain damage. Dylan would spend the next several weeks in the ICU,

recovering from three separate surgeries. In one, Robert Spet-zler, MD, removed the AVM, as well as part of Dylan’scerebellum. Dr. Spetzler had told Dylan’s family that the mal-formation was extraordinarily large and that the procedurewould be complex.“As the doctors explained the surgery, it seemed incon-

ceivable that it could be accomplished,” says Kenn. But Hitchcock, who, along with Dylan’s mom, Rebec-

ca, kept a constant vigil at Dylan’s bedside, was confident.“From the minute I heard he was going to Barrow, I was-n’t stressed at all,” she recalls. “I just kept thinking of all ofthe families that had been through this before us with suc-cessful outcomes.”Today, the Francis family feels grateful to be on that list.Dylan spent a month in the Deborah and Bruce Downey

Neuro Rehabilitation Unit. Then, he transitioned to the hos-pital’s outpatient Center for Transitional NeuroRehabilitation(CTN), where doctors and therapists will work with himon physical, speech and occupational therapy. He still has

weakness on his left side and some speech and memorydeficits. But with time, the laid-back teenager, who lovesmusic and DJing and who can’t wait to get his driver’slicense, will be back to his old self. When he returns to Brophy College Preparatory, like-

ly in the fall, Dylan will have some impressive stories to share.On March 24, he and his family attended Celebrity

Fight Night, an event Hitchcock has been involved in forseveral years. But this year was different.Dylan had the opportunity to take the stage and pub-

licly thank the doctors who saved his life. Then, if for noth-ing else than to prove that his sense of humor is still intact,he opened bidding on a macaroni and cheese dinner at hisfamily’s home. The star-studded crowd gave Dylan his firststanding ovation. And though his recollections of the past few months are

hazy, this is one memory that Dylan and his family are boundto remember forever.

St. Joseph’sAmazingPatient stories from the files of Barrow Neurological Institute

A tangled mass of blood vessels

had ruptured in Dylan’s brain.

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Barrow Magazine St. Joseph’s Amazing38

Sergio Rodriguezby Sally ClasenIn May 2012, Sergio Rodriguez will

proudly walk across a stage to receive hisMBA from the University of Phoenix.Four years ago, the Gilbert resident could-n’t stand without falling or speak with-out mumbling.Rodriguez's troubles started after he had a mountain

biking accident, which caused a bulging disc and left him withsome unusual symptoms that didn't add up. “I deterioratedquickly once I started taking pain medication for my back.My speech was slurred and I had facial paralysis. I lookedlike I had a stroke,” he explains. “I attributed the issues to themedication, but once I stopped taking it, I got worse.”His mother, a registered nurse, realized her son was in

trouble and took him to the emergency department at St.Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, where Rodriguez wasquickly admitted to Barrow Neurological Institute. He wasdiagnosed with a virus that attacks the central nervous sys-tem—called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. He spent30 days at Barrow, followed by 15 days in an inpatient rehabfacility to learn to walk and talk again.A few months later, Rodriguez experienced another neu-

rological episode and was diagnosed with Marburg variantof multiple sclerosis, an aggressive form of the autoimmunedisease that was triggered by the virus, according to neurologistRoberto Bomprezzi, MD. “Marburg variant of MS is rare. MS isn’t caused by a

virus, but a virus can be the underlying reason for a weak-ened immune system, which can lead to a number of healthissues, including MS,” says Dr. Bomprezzi. “Sergio’s symp-toms have grown milder, and he now has a classic form of

the disease called relapse remitting MS, which follows achronic course and affects about 85 percent of those with thedisease.”Since learning he has MS, Rodriguez has been able to

maintain his function due to a well-controlled regimen ofIV-infusion therapy that he receives at Barrow every twomonths to suppress cell inflammation. He recognizes that hislimitations—he still has tingling in his leg and hand, and somebalance and cognitive issues—are manageable compared toothers with the disease.Rodriguez also is mindful of the role proper nutrition and

regular exercise play in his health and continued recovery.He’s run in several races and a half-marathon and has neverfelt better. “It’s been a long journey, but I’m physically 100percent—200 percent compared to what I was.”

Despite a diagnosis of MS,

Sergio Rodriguez is running

half marathons.

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St. Joseph’s Amazing Barrow Magazine 39

Art Snyderby Sally ClasenMost seniors aren’t thankful for having an injury, but 84-

year-old Art Synder of Florence, Arizona, believes a 2010 fallin which she hit her head was a “blessing in disguise.” After the accident, the retired science teacher says she was

in a mental and physical stupor. “I was experiencing balanceand gait changes and felt like I was underwater. Even thoughI’ve never been drunk in my life, I call it my drunken peri-od,” she says of the off-kiltereffects that prompted a visitto a Casa Grande neurologist,who referred her to BarrowNeurological Institute.At Barrow, Snyder was

evaluated by neurologistAnthony Santiago, MD, andlearned her odd symptomswere caused by normal pres-sure hydrocephalus (NPH),which occurs when there isan increase in intracranialpressure due to an abnormalaccumulation of cere-brospinal fluid in the ven-tricles, or cavities, of thebrain. It is most common inelderly people and can leadto gait issues, urinary incon-tinence, memory loss anddementia. NPH can masquerade as

other neurological issues,such as Parkinson’s,Alzheimer’s, stroke and spine disease, so careful examina-tion is necessary to make an accurate diagnosis. Snyderunderwent a series of clinical evaluations and neural screen-ings at Barrow, including a lumbar puncture under fluo-roscopy (spinal tap) in which cerebrospinal fluid is withdrawnto measure a patient’s reaction to the pressure change, accord-ing to Dr. Santiago.Neurologists use the lumbar test to confirm NPH and

identify patients who are ideal candidates for stent surgery,which alleviates the excess pressure. Snyder was considereda favorable patient for the procedure, and in June 2011, neu-rosurgeon Joseph Zabramski, MD, placed a programmableshunt into her brain. “NPH is relatively rare, but timely diagnosis can lead to

effective reversal of symptoms through ventricular shunting,”explains Dr. Santiago.Since her surgery, Snyder has slowly regained her foot-

ing. She sees Dr. Santiago for occasional “tweaks” to hershunt and has resumed her varied interests, including writ-

ing letters to the editor and volunteering for diverse civic proj-ects in her community. “My new normal is different,” she says. “But it’s better than

getting progressively worse and ending up in a nursinghome.”

Gait changes,

memory loss,

dementia and

incontinence can

be signs of

normal pressure

hydrocephalus, a

condition that can

be treated.

Anthony Santiago, MD,examines Art Snyder in theNormal PressureHydrocephalus Clinic,located in the MuhammadAli Parkinson Center atBarrow. NPH can mimicother neurologicaldisorders, includingParkinson’s, Alzheimer’s,stroke and spine disease.NPH can often be treatedwith the insertion of a shuntto drain excess fluid fromthe brain. For information,call 1-800-BARROW1 (227-7691) or 602-406-6281.

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Barrow Magazine Benefactor Briefs40

Benefactor BriefsSonntag Academic Pavilion openinghonors retired Barrow neurosurgeonThe new Sonntag Academic Pavilion was dedicated at a dinnerApril 4 at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center. The event hon-ored retired Barrow neurosurgeon Volker K.H. Sonntag, MD,for his many contributions to neu-roscience and to Barrow Neurolog-ical Institute.In attendance were friends and

colleagues who contributed to thenew facility, located near the MarleyLobby and Goldman Auditorium. The Sonntag Academic Pavilion

will be used for lectures, exhibits,demonstrations and meetings. It hasseating for up to 200 people and isequipped with the latest audio andvideo technology.

Celebrity Fight Night, Lonnie andMuhammad Ali honor 50 at Barrow Lonnie and Muhammad Ali honored 50 neurosurgeons, neurol-ogists and researchers at Barrow Neurological Institute for theiroutstanding contributions to medicine during a reception spon-sored by Celebrity Fight Night and Barrow Neurological Foundationon Feb. 22. The tribute was part of Barrow’s 50th anniversary celebration. During the reception, Robert Spetzler, MD, director of Barrow,

accepted a Muhammad Ali Celebrity Fight Night award on behalfof the institute, and each of the 50 Barrow specialists received anindividual gift marking the occasion.A video of the tribute was shown during Celebrity Fight Night

on March 24, and Barrow doctors attending the fundraiser wererecognized. Over the years, the Celebrity Fight Night Foundation

has contributed more than$19 million from its annu-al star-studded fundraiserto the Muhammad AliParkinson Center at Bar-row.

Top photo, Volker and Lynne Sonntag

Renee and Bob Parsons were honored fortheir many contributions to Celebrity FightNight and the Muhammad Ali ParkinsonCenter at a reception on Feb. 22 at Barrow.Lonnie and Muhammad Ali attended theevent, which dedicated the Renee and BobParsons Gallery at the Muhammad AliParkinson Center.

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Benefactor Briefs Barrow Magazine 41

Three couples—Shannon and Keith Mishkin, Lisa and JeffGeyser, and Sharon and Paul Pollock—have joined togeth-er to engage the next generation of philanthropists in sup-porting Barrow Neurological Institute. They recently launchedBarrow Beyond, a special donor group that will raise fundsand awareness for Barrow.

The group’s first order of business is to recruit 50 indi-viduals/ couples to become Barrow Beyond founding mem-bers. Each individual/couple will be asked to contribute$1,000 or more to Barrow.Initial funds raised by Barrow Beyond will go to the Bar-

row Brain Tumor Research Center (BBTRC). In the future,

the group plans to contribute to other areas at Barrow, suchas the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center and the Barrow Cen-ter for Neuromodulation. The couples decided to contribute first to the BBTRC

because of the great need for research into brain tumors. Whilethe field of neuroscience has made amazing advancementsin the last 50 years, little progress has been made against braintumors, especially the worst of the worst—gliobastomas.About 64,000 new primary brain tumors will be diagnosedin the U.S. this year, and more than 22,000 of those will bemalignant. The average survival after diagnosis of a glioblas-toma is just 14 months—little better than it was 30 years ago. Barrow Beyond is committed to helping the BBTRC

evolve into the premier brain tumor research and develop-ment site in the world. Funds from Barrow Beyond willenable researchers to launch clinical trials and to develop newtechniques specific to brain tumors. Members of Barrow Beyond will be invited to special social

and educational events throughout the year. They will havethe opportunity to hear from Barrow’s world-class physiciansand researchers. For more information, contact Kathleen Norton at 602-

406-1039 or [email protected].

Benefactors create group to support Barrow

Founding Barrow Beyond members ShannonMishkin, Lisa Geyser and Sharon Pollock withnew member, Brooke Zilveti.

The Women’s Board of Barrow Neurological Foundationcelebrated the end of another successful year and looked for-ward to the coming year at their spring luncheon April 5 atParadise Valley Country Club. The highlight of the event wasthe presentation of a check for $1.9 million to Robert Spet-zler, MD, director of Barrow. New members and officers for 2012-2013 were introduced

during the luncheon. The three new members are Mrs.Christopher Cacheris, Mrs. Arthur E. Moreno and Mrs.Ray Thurston. Incoming officers are:Mrs. Ross L. Shannon, chairmanMrs. William D.H. Francis, chairman electMrs. R. David Martin, treasurerMrs. Thomas Cheek, corresponding secretaryMrs. Joseph Melczer III, recording secretaryMrs. Gary J. Hewson, yearbook chairmanMrs. Edward W. Guenther, parliamentarianMrs. Michael A. DeBell, Barrow Grand Ball co-chairMrs. Michael Watts, Barrow Grand Ball co-chair.

Over the years, the Women’s Board has contributed about$42 million to Barrow, making the group the institute’slargest benefactor.

Women’s Board presents $1.9-million check during spring luncheon

PennyGunning, left,is theoutgoingchairman ofthe Women’sBoard. JudyShannon willserve aschairman for2012-2013.

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Barrow Magazine Planned Giving42

Where There’s A WillLeave a legacy by planning your estate now

by Kathy KramerPresident and CEOBarrow Neurological Foundation, St. Joseph’s Foundation

■A bequest is one of the easiest gifts to make to charity. Here are three examplesof bequests that you may wish to consider:1. Charitable bequest. A charitable bequest is written in a will or trust anddirects a gift to be made to a qualified exempt charity when you pass away. Acharitable bequest enables you to further the good work of an organization youvolunteer with or support long after you are gone. Better yet, a charitablebequest can help you save estate taxes by providing your estate with a chari-table deduction for the gift. A bequest can be made in several ways:• A gift of a percentage of your estate• A gift of a specific asset • A gift of the residue of your estate• A gift of a specific dollar amount.

2. Bequest of an IRA. A retirement asset like an IRA account makes an excel-lent bequest to charity. If the IRA were given to your family, much of the valuewould be depleted through estate and income taxes. By designating charity asthe beneficiary of part or all of your IRA, the full value of the gift is transferredtax-free at your death, and your estate receives a charitable deduction. If youwish to leave your IRA to your spouse at your death, you may also designatea charity as the secondary beneficiary of your account. Contact your IRA orretirement account custodian to obtain a beneficiary designation form and makea bequest from your IRA.

3. Bequest of an insurance policy. An insurance policy makes a nice bequestto charity. As an asset of your estate, an insurance policy is taxable at your death.However, if the policy is gifted to charity, your estate avoids paying tax on thevalue of the policy and receives a charitable deduction for the gift. You maygenerally name anyone as beneficiary of your insurance policy and change yourdesignation at anytime. Contact your insurance company to obtain a benefi-ciary designation form and make a bequest of your policy to charity.I would be glad to meet with you to discuss your philanthropic goals and explore

ways you can contribute to Barrow Neurological Institute’s future. Just call 602-406-3041 or email [email protected]. ■

� � �

Help create an amazing future forBarrow NeurologicalInstitute through abequest to our foundation

40231_SJHMC_40231_SJHMC 5/3/12 8:47 AM

Get a behind-the scenes look at how magicians trick us, what magic tells us about the brain and why it ma9ers. Proceeds bene8t Barrow Neurological Institute.

Tickets go on sale May 2012. Tickets: $75, $100 and $150 ($150 ticket includes VIP reception)For more information, call 602-406-3041.

�� Sept. 17, 2012 | 6 p.m.

Phoenix 7eatre

�� Mac King and the Amazing Randi

Stephen Macknik, PhD, and Susana Martinez-Conde, PhD

40231_SJHMC_40231_SJHMC 5/3/12 8:48 AM

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Barrow magazine Volume 24, Issue 1, 2012

Documents

Transcript of Barrow magazine Volume 24, Issue 1, 2012