Training
Dr Patel obtained his medical degree from the Medical University of South
Carolina. He did his surgical internship at the same institution and completed
residency training under Dr Phanor Perot in Neurological Surgery in 1991. He
was then awarded the Sugita Scholarship to study Microsurgery and Neurovascular
Surgery in Japan for 3 months under the tutelage of Dr Kenichiro Sugita
(world-renowned in surgery for cerebral aneurysms and micro-neurosurgery).
After that he completed a Skull Base Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh
with Dr Laligam Sekhar (pioneer for skull base surgery in this country). He
then spent another 3 months under Dr Peter Jannetta (pioneer in the treatment
of trigeminal neuralgia), learning to do microvascular decompressions for
cranial nerve syndromes such as trigeminal neuralgia. The American Board of
Neurological Surgery certified him in 1996.
After completion of all his training and fellowships, Dr Patel joined the Department of Neurological Surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina in 1993 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2000. He has been a Research Associate of the Hollings Cancer Center since 1993 and has developed and directs the Brain Tumor Clinical & Research Programs at MUSC. He also holds a joint appointment in the Department of Otolaryngology and initiated the Skull Base Surgery Program in a collaborative effort with the Departments of Otolaryngology & Neuroradiology. Dr Patel belongs to several regional, national and international neurosurgical and research organizations. He continues to lecture in educational efforts such as seminars and workshops in Skull Base Surgery at the national and international (Japan, Mexico, Germany, India) levels. His local teaching efforts involve both teaching residents (Neurological Surgery) and medical students, and being involved in local/regional lectures in the clinical neurosciences. He has been listed in Best Doctors in America.
Research Expertise
The main focus of clinical research in the area of brain tumors is in
the development and use of cancer targeting drugs that are directly infused
into the tumor. Dr Patel has been the Principal Investigator at MUSC in two of
the first multi-institutional intra-tumoral drug infusion trials for malignant
brain tumors in this country. His team of researchers have helped to refine
methods to infuse drug into tumors in the brain. He is also an active
Investigator in several of the clinical trials underway in the Department such
as for intracerebral and intraventricular hemorrhage. He also has a strong
interest in mechanisms of neurovascular compression syndromes such as
trigeminal neuralgia. His present research efforts are directed in the area of
autonomic dysfunctions such as hypertension as they may relate to similar
neurovascular compression (of the brainstem) in the posterior fossa.
Clinical Expertise
As an expert in surgery of the posterior fossa, Dr Patel treats patients with
various neurovascular compression syndromes such as trigeminal neuralgia,
glossopharyngeal neuralgia, hemifacial spasm, torticollis and other posterior
fossa and cranial nerve disorders. Having performed over 100 operations for
trigeminal neuralgia alone, he has refined the microvascular decompression
operation for these disorders with minimally invasive techniques.
Dr Patel established the Brain Tumor Clinic at the Hollings Cancer Center in 1994 and performs over 100 brain tumor operations a year. He has helped to keep MUSC Neurosurgery at the forefront in state-of-the-art technology and has extensive experience in the microsurgical management of tumors and vascular lesions of the brain and skull base. Using image guided instruments and newly developed functional imaging, innovative minimally invasive techniques are being brought to the operating room. Brain tumors can be removed with minimal harm to adjacent functional brain. Pituitary tumors are now removed exclusively with an endoscope through the nostril, minimizing the trauma of the surgery, and drastically shortening the recovery period.