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Research Focus: Functional and Stereotactic Neurosurgery

Functional Neurosurgery is didicated to treatment of pharmacological resistant movement disorders, epilepsy, severe psychiatric disorders, therapy resistant pain syndroms beside of distinct methods in neurooncology. The aim of that surgical discipline is to restore disturbed neuronal functionality by surgical methods such as stereotactic surgery, radiosurgery, neuromodulation, functional imaging, intraoperative electrophysiology and many more. Functional neurosurgery uses and develops many instruments and methods to gain that goals. Compared to other nonsurgical disciplines neurosurgery has the advantage of acute and immediate medical observations and results which are able to give hints or ideas concerning the neuronal functionality and functional distribution in humans. Without the comparative findings between neurosurgery and imaging modalities like functional imaging, it would have been impossible to gain the exhaustive amount of knowledge till now. Functional Neurosurgery was and is able to give fundamental information on clinical and basic neuroscience research. It attracted the interest of the world medical community, while trying to identify cerebral functions by intraoperative examinations, for example, in awake surgeries. Most recently attempts have been made by comparison of intraoperative findings and functional neuroimaging to bridge the gap between human brain physiology and cognitive and emotional control of behavior, decision making, communication, and metaphysical experiences. This interdisciplinary discourse between the neurosciences is still in its beginning.

The Innsbruck working group of functional and stereotactic neurosurgery exists since 1999 and had gained national international reputation and that fact is well documented by more than 50 peer reviewed articles including New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, Brain beside of the top ranked journals in neurosurgery and functional neurosurgery. More than 30 book chapters and more than 360 national and international presentations, invited and in combination with congress chairs were gained since the establishment of the speciality in Innsbruck becoming the leading institution in austria. Interdisciplinary cooperations exists national local with the department of neurology, radiooncology, neuroradiology, rehabilitation medicine, psychiatry, anaesthesia – pain department, national with austrian pain society (board member, president elect 2021 – 2023) international: international neuromodulation society, german society for neuromodulation (vice president 2014 until 2019), World Society and European Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, international teacher and trainer for deep brain stimulation.

 

Selected recent publications:

  • Wilhelm Eisner, Neurochirurgische Therapie von atypischen neuropathischen Gesichtsschmerzen und Clusterkopfschmerz mit Darstellung von Kernaspekten neurochirurgischer Schmerztherapie, J NEUROL NEUROCHIR PSYCHIATR 2016;17(2); 39-48
  • Wilhelm Eisner, „Europäische Vernetzung in der Schmerztherapie vorantreiben“, Schmerznachrichten 2016(1);9
  • Wilhelm Eisner, „Neurochirurgische Methoden in der Schmerztherapie Teil 1“, Schmerznachrichten 2016(2);16-18
  • Wilhelm Eisner, „Stellenwert intrazerebraler Verfahren bei der Schmerzbehandlung“ Neurochirurgische Methoden in der Schmerztherapie Teil 3, Schmerznachrichten 2016(3), 26-28
  • Wilhelm Eisner, „Läsionelle Verfahren in der Schmerzbehandlung“ Neurochirurgische Methoden in der Schmerztherapie Teil 4, Schmerznachrichten 2016(4);44-45
  • Ortler M, Stephan K, Behr R, Polak M, Eisner W, Thomé C, „Auditory Brainstem Implants for Acquired Hearing Loss: Surgical Technique and First Results”, Journal of Neurological Surgery, Part B: Skull Base 77(S02), September 2016
  • Freyschlag CF, Kerschbaumer J, Eisner W, Pinggera D, Brawanski KR, Petr O, Bauer M, Grams AE, Bodner T, Seiz M, Thomé C, „Optical Neuronavigation without Rigid Head Fixation During Awake Surgery“, World Neurosurgery, Oct 2016; 97:669-673. PMID: 27989983  
  • Pinggera D, Kvitsaridtze I, Stockhammer G, Eisner W, Thomé C, Freyschlag CF, Moser P, Kerschbaumer J, „Serious Tumor Seeding after Brainstem Biopsy and its Treatment – Case Report and review of the Literature”, Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2017 Apr;159(4):751-754 PMID: 28154933
  • Likar R, Jaksch W, Aigmüller T, Brunner M, Cohnert T, Dieber J, Eisner W, Geyrhofer S, Grögl G, Herbst F, Hetterle R, Javorsky F, Kress HG, Kwasny O, Madersbacher S, Mächler H, Mittermair R, Osterbrink J, Stöckl B, Sulzbacher M, Taxer B, Todoroff B, Tuchmann A, Wicker A, Sandner-Kiesling A., “Interdisciplinary Position Paper “Perioperative Pain Management” Schmerz. 2017 Oct;31(5):463-482 doi: 10.1007/s00482-017-0217-y   PMID: 28409236
  • Eisner W., Nichtmanuelle Schmerztherapie der Lenden-Becken-Hüft-Region, Manuelle Medizin, (2018) 56:36-44; DOI: 10.1007/s00337-017-0357-2 License CC BY 4.0
  • Frischer JM, Gruber E, Schöffmann V, Ertl A, Höftberger R, Mallouhi A, Wolfsberger S, Arnoldner C, Eisner W, Knosp E, Kitz K, Gatterbauer B., Long-term outcome after Gamma Knife radiosurgery for acoustic neuroma of all Koos grades: a single-center study. J Neurosurg. 2018 Mar 2:1-10. doi: 10.3171/2017.8.JNS171281.PMID: 29498575                                                           
  • Eisner W., Stellenwert der Neuromodulation bei Funktionsstörungen der Hand, Manuelle Medizin, (2019) 57:21-29 DOI:10.1007/s00337-019-0498-6, CC BY 4.0
  • Polanski WH, Zolal A, Klein J, Kitzler HH, Schackert G, Eisner W, Sobottka SB., Somatosensory functional MRI tractography for individualized targeting of deep brain stimulation in patients with chronic pain after brachial plexus injury. Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2019 Dec;161(12):2485-2490. doi: 10.1007/s00701-019-04065-2. Epub 2019 Oct 7.PMID: 31591648
  • Hirschmann D, Goebl P, Witte FH, Gatterbauer B, Wang WT, Dodier P, Bavinzski G, Ertl A, Marik W, Mallouhi A, Roetzer T, Dorfer C, Eisner W, Gruber A, Kitz K, Frischer JM., Evaluation of the radiosurgical treatment of cerebral arteriovenous malformations: a retrospective single-center analysis of three decades. J Neurointerv Surg. 2020 Apr;12(4):401-406. doi: 10.1136/neurintsurg-2019-015332. Epub 2019 Sep 26.PMID: 31558656
  • Reich MM, Horn A, Lange F, Roothans J, Paschen S, Runge J, Wodarg F, Pozzi NG, Witt K, Nickl RC, Soussand L, Ewert S, Maltese V, Wittstock M, Schneider GH, Coenen V, Mahlknecht P, Poewe W, Eisner W, Helmers AK, Matthies C, Sturm V, Isaias IU, Krauss JK, Kühn AA, Deuschl G, Volkmann J.  Probabilistic mapping of the antidystonic effect of pallidal neurostimulation: a multicentre imaging study. Brain. 2019 May 1;142(5):1386-1398. doi: 10.1093/brain/awz046. PMID: 30851091 Clinical Trial.
  • Tako Neuroonkologie 2019: Neuroonkologie: viele Themen wie Radiochirurgie, Brachytherapie, Intraoperative Überwachung
  • Mahlknecht P, Peball M, Mair K, Werkmann M, Nocker M, Wolf E, Eisner W, Bajaj S, Quirbach S, Peralta C, Eschlböck S, Wenning GK, Willeit P, Seppi K, Poewe W., Has Deep Brain Stimulation Changed the Very Long-Term Outcome of Parkinson's Disease? A Controlled Longitudinal Study. Mov Disord Clin Pract. 2020 Sep 21;7(7):782-787. doi:10.1002/mdc3.13039. eCollection 2020 Oct.PMID: 33033735