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Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics

A Memorial Tribute to The Most Interesting Man in the World: James T. Goodrich, MD, PhD

By COVID-19, Faces of Neurosurgery, PediatricsOne Comment

The passing of James T. Goodrich, MD, PhD on March 30, 2020, was a devastating blow — not only to the neurosurgical community, but to his many friends throughout the world. Jim was a kind and compassionate man who was revered by many. He was always willing to help others and traveled extensively to help those who needed his expertise. He was a great teacher, surgeon and student of medical history. His accomplishments were many and varied.

  • He is probably best known for his technique for separating craniopagus twins. See, from the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics, “Craniopagus twins.” Jim was an advocate for the staged separation technique and brought it to new heights with his development of a multidisciplinary approach and the use of modern neuroimaging.
  • Jim was also an expert in craniofacial surgery. He was sought after for many national and international courses and conferences for his knowledge and teaching abilities. He was a frequent faculty member at the European Pediatric Training courses. He then helped developed these same courses in Asia, Latin and South America, and other locations throughout the world.
  • He had a life-long love of medical history. As a young neurosurgeon in training, he started a business collecting and selling medical artifacts and books of historical significance.
  • Jim was the recipient of multiple awards, including Best Doctors in America. He received the New York City Mayors Award in Science and Technology. He was a former marine and received the Marine of the Year Award for his contribution to society.

Colleagues, friends and family recently held a moving memorial tribute, which tells the story of Jim’s life and times.

He will be greatly missed.

Editor’s note: We hope that you will share what you learn from our posts. We invite you to be part of the conversation on Twitter by following and using the hashtag #COVID19.

Marion L. Walker, MD, FAANS
Professor Emeritus
Department of Neurosurgery
University of Utah School of Medicine

April 27, 2020
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The Global Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Neurosurgical Practice (Part III)

By AANS Spotlight, COVID-19, Faces of Neurosurgery, HealthNo Comments

The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Journal of Neurosurgery (JNS) Publishing Group are pleased to announce the publication of four editorials on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on neurosurgical practice. This batch of editorials concludes our rapid-response collection on this topic. Altogether the collection boasts 19 papers, an introduction and 18 editorials, published in the Journal of Neurosurgery, Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics or Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine. All of the articles are posted online, and they will also be accessible by PubMed Central as part of the Public Health Emergency COVID-19 Initiative.

The following articles cover neurosurgeons’ experiences and lessons learned thus far during the COVID-19 pandemic:

Xiaoguang Tong, MD, and Yuanfan Yang, MD, discuss precautions taken at Huanhu Hospital in Tianjin, China, for performing emergency cerebrovascular procedures during the pandemic. All patients entering the emergency department are assumed to have COVID-19 until proven otherwise. The hospital rearranged equipment and facilities to isolate patients throughout their treatment. Full personal protective equipment (PPE) — including N95 masks, face shields, goggles and full gown — were worn by all health care workers. Extra layers of face protection were worn during emergency intubation. Whenever possible, minimally invasive procedures were performed. Additional steps to protect health care workers and patients are also covered in this editorial. The authors state the precautions resulted in no infections among the health care workers and patients.

Sepideh Amin-Hanjani, MD, FAANS, and coauthors representing multiple academic institutions throughout the U.S. and Canada weigh in on the overall impact of COVID-19 on neurosurgical practice. The authors discuss the conservation of skilled staff, the heightened risk of some neurosurgical approaches, postponement of elective cases, the necessity of wearing appropriate PPE and the need to convert some specialty facilities into treatment sites for COVID-19 patients. The authors also share resources for neurosurgeons during the pandemic offered by the AANS, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the American College of Surgeons and additional societies.

Adair Prall, MD, FAANS, FACS, John D. Davis, IV, MD, FAANS, and N. Ross Jenkins, MD, FAANS, share their insights on changes in community practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. As independent private practitioners, these authors describe how disorienting it has been to suddenly have “many decisions made for them and [be] required to limit, change, or stop altogether their workflow.” The authors mention new ways of treating patients using phone or video conversations. They also discuss how hospital or ambulatory surgery center administrators may view urgent and elective surgeries differently from surgeons, and how neurosurgeons must advocate for patients whose conditions may not appear urgent but indeed are so. Lastly, the authors speak to the issue of small business ownership during the pandemic, dealing with a reduced caseload and income while trying to retain skilled employees.

A neurosurgical resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, Victoria Clark, MD, PhD, describes the experience of being locked out of the lab during the pandemic. Being unable to continue lab benchwork, she evaluates other avenues of research that can be followed by the resident at this time — such as working on bioinformatics-based projects or chart-based/clinical analyses or focusing on scientific writing. Laboratory research is extremely important overall, and an integral part of residency training, and Dr. Clark offers several suggestions on how labs can be reopened and neurosurgical research can continue using safe, socially distant methods.

Join us in reading these free articles.

Editor’s note: We hope that you will share what you learn from our posts. We invite you to be part of the conversation on Twitter by following and using the hashtag #COVID19.

April 24, 2020
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The Global Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Neurosurgical Practice (Part II)

By AANS Spotlight, COVID-19, Faces of Neurosurgery, HealthNo Comments

The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group are pleased to announce the publication of eleven new editorials on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on neurosurgical practice. The series kicked off last week with three editorials and an introduction on the subject, which were published in the Journal of Neurosurgery and the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics.

Last week we heard from neurosurgeons in the United States, Canada, Italy and China on the impact of the pandemic on neurosurgical practice. This week’s installment adds editorials from the U.S., Republic of Korea and Singapore.

The editorials cover a wide variety of important areas demonstrating the impact of COVID-19 on the practice and training of neurosurgeons. Although other fields of medicine more readily come to mind when considering the battle against the virus known as SARS-CoV-2, neurosurgical practice has also had to adapt swiftly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The following articles cover neurosurgeons’ experiences and lessons learned thus far during the COVID-19 pandemic:

Join us in reading these free articles.

Editor’s note: We hope that you will share what you learn from our posts. We invite you to be part of the conversation on Twitter by following and using the hashtag #COVID19.

April 17, 2020
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