Neurosurgical management of brain and spine tumors in the COVID-19 era: an institutional experience from the epicenter of the pandemic

• Published in: Journal of neuro-oncology Vol. 148; no. 2; pp. 211 - 219
• Main Authors: Kessler, Remi A., Zimering, Jeffrey, Gilligan, Jeffrey, Rothrock, Robert, McNeill, Ian, Shrivastava, Raj K., Caridi, John, Bederson, Joshua, Hadjipanayis, Constantinos G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.06.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Betacoronavirus - isolation & purification; Bone cancer; Brain cancer; Brain Neoplasms - surgery; Brain Neoplasms - virology; Brain tumors; Coronavirus Infections - complications; Coronavirus Infections - virology; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Decision making; Disease Management; Humans; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Neurology; Neurosurgery; Neurosurgery - standards; Neurosurgical Procedures - methods; Oncology; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral - complications; Pneumonia, Viral - virology; SARS-CoV-2; Spinal cancer; Spinal Neoplasms - surgery; Spinal Neoplasms - virology; Topic Review; Triage - standards; Tumors; Virus; Intracranial; Resection; Skull base; Spine; Tumor; Pandemic; Neurosurgery
• ISSN: 0167-594X; 1573-7373
• DOI: 10.1007/s11060-020-03523-7

The challenges of neurosurgical patient management and surgical decision-making during the 2019–2020 COVID-19 worldwide pandemic are immense and never-before-seen in our generation of neurosurgeons. In this case-based formatted report, we present the Mount Sinai Hospital (New York, NY) Department of Neurosurgery institutional experience in the epicenter of the pandemic and the guiding principles for our current management of intracranial, skull base, and spine tumors. The detailed explanations of our surgical reasoning for each tumor case is tailored to assist neurosurgeons across the United States as they face these complex operative decisions put forth by the realities of the pandemic.