Internationally Recognized Neurosurgeon Joins Nemours

Nemours Enterprise
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 @ 12:00 AM EDT

In July 2006, a pediatric neurosurgeon Benjamin Warf, MD, joined the Division of Neurosurgery at the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. Dr. Warf developed a unique surgical technique while working in Africa, providing improved treatment for patients with hydrocephalus, commonly known as “water on the brain.”

According to the National Hydrocephalus Foundation, this is a fairly common problem, identified at birth in approximately 1 in 500 children. It can also occur in young children and adults as a result of hemorrhage, infection, trauma, and tumors. Typical treatment requires the insertion of a shunt into the patient’s brain to drain cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to elsewhere in the body where the fluid can be absorbed.

Dr.Warf , formerly the chief of pediatric neurosurgery at the University of Kentucky, moved to Uganda, East Africa in March 2000 to help establish the CURE Children’s Hospital of Uganda Center for Pediatric Neurosurgery. CURE International (Lemoyne, PA) is a faith-based, nonprofit organization, that builds and operates surgical specialty teaching hospitals for children in the developing world.

While there, he observed a high incidence of hydrocephalus, and determined that cost, high infection rates, and obstacles to follow-up care made the use of shunts less effective than in developed countries. Building on an alternative procedure for hydrocephalus, called endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV), which helps the cerebrospinal fluid exit the ventricles without the need for a shunt, he included the use of a flexible endoscope and the cauterization of the choroid plexus (CPC), decreasing the production of CSF. Dr. Warf performed over 1,000 ETV procedures in Uganda, avoiding the need for shunts in most of these children. This offered a unique and effective treatment for children in whom shunt management and follow-up would be extremely difficult.

Dr.Warf , reported the results of these techniques in a series of articles published in the Journal of Neurosurgery last year. With a patient series now exceeding 1000, Dr. Warf has the largest experience in the world with treating hydrocephalus endoscopically.

Endoscopic treatments of hydrocephalus without a shunt is currently offered to few patients in the United States. However, Dr. Warf’s experience in Uganda suggests that by adding CPC to ETV, endoscopic approaches may be appropriate for nearly all children with hydrocephalus. His previous reports have already documented a high success rate for children with spina bifida and post-infectious hydrocephalus, as well as various forms of obstructive hydrocephalus. These techniques will hopefully also be effective in treating premature newborns with hydrocephalus from intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), since these children tend to have more complications with shunts than children with hydrocephalus from other causes.

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Warf to duPont Hospital,” says Jeffrey Campbell, MD, Chief, Division of Neurosurgery. “I expect that the techniques he developed in Africa will revolutionize the treatment of hydrocephalus in the United States over the next decade”.

With his addition to our staff, the Division of Neurosurgery now has two board-certified pediatric neurosurgeons who care solely for children.

modified: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 @ 04:29 PM EST
created: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 @ 04:29 PM EST

About Nemours

Nemours, one of the nation’s largest pediatric health systems, is dedicated to achieving higher standards in children’s health. Nemours offers an integrated spectrum of clinical treatment coupled with research, advocacy, and educational health and prevention services extending to all families in the communities it serves. Starting with Alfred I. duPont’s bequest over seventy years ago, Nemours has grown into a multi-dimensional organization offering personalized clinical and preventive care focused on children.

Nemours owns and operates the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware and major children’s specialty clinics in Delaware (Wilmington), Florida (Jacksonville, Orlando and Pensacola), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and Bryn Mawr) and New Jersey (Atlantic City and Voorhees). Having recently received preliminary approval from the State of Florida, Nemours will establish a new full-service children’s hospital as part of an integrated pediatric health campus in Orlando. KidsHealth.org, the world’s most visited pediatric health care Web site for parents, kids and teens, is a project of Nemours.

Nemours employs over 4,400 individuals, including 430 pediatric physicians, specialists and surgeons who cared for approximately a quarter of a million children in 2007. The organization’s goal is to align with parents, physicians, community leaders, children’s advocates and elected officials to ensure optimal wellness for every child. Additional information about Nemours can be found at www.nemours.org.