When Larry Garfinkel arrived at Overlook Medical Center in Summit, he didn’t know what his diagnosis – or his treatment options – would be.
Earlier that day, he was walking up the back steps to his home in Summit when he tripped and fell backward onto the driveway.
“My head was in pain, so I called 911, and they transported me to the hospital for observation,” Garfinkel said. “After undergoing several CAT scans, the doctors told me I had a chronic subdural hematoma, a type of brain bleed, as a result of the fall.”
“Subdural hematomas occur when blood vessels rupture and leak fluid between the brain and the covering of the brain, oftentimes after a serious fall or trauma to the head. This exerts abnormal pressure on the brain and can cause a stroke,” said Dr. Ronald Benitez – a board-certified neurosurgeon and president of Atlantic NeuroSurgical Specialists (ANS) – who treated Larry at Overlook.
Garfinkel returned home just three days after undergoing a revolutionary, minimally invasive treatment to address the chronic subdural hematoma.
One of few neurosurgeons specializing in both the surgical and endovascular management of cerebrovascular disease – conditions affecting blood vessels in the brain and cerebral circulation – Dr. Benitez offered Garfinkel an alternative to an open craniotomy called middle meningeal artery (MMA) embolization. This new, minimally invasive procedure enables surgeons to reach the brain through an incision near the groin and navigate a small catheter up into the blood vessels in the brain that are causing the bleeding. They can then inject small particles, called embospheres, to stop the bleeding.
“Dr. Benitez explained this procedure was less intrusive and would lead to a shorter recovery time,” Garfinkel said.
Three days after the hour-long surgery – the second MMA embolization ever performed in New Jersey – he returned home. Within a month and a half, he was given the all-clear from Dr. Benitez.
“Dr. Benitez was confident this would be highly effective for me, and he fulfilled his word,” Garfinkel said.
Atlantic NeuroSurgical Specialists (ANS) is New Jersey’s largest neurosurgical practice and one of the most advanced in the country. For more information, visit www.ansdocs.com.