Neurosurgery & Neurology

Mental Health: Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology

At Vithas Xanit International Hospital the department comprises of the following units:

• Infantile Neuropsychological and ADHD unit
• Unit for affective/Anxiety disorders
• Group therapies
• Detoxification Unit

The hospital counts upon qualified psychiatrists who are also specialised in neuropsychiatry, adult psychiatry, and child and adolescent psychiatry.

Neuropsychology is a relatively new area. This speciality studies the relationship between the brain, the cognitive functions and conductors.

A neuropsycological evaluation takes into account various different areas, these include senso-perceptual and motor functions, concentration, memory, visual and auditive processing, language, executive functions, intelligence, etc….behaviour, personality etc….

Neurosurgery

This is a medical speciality which treats diseases of the nervous system through surgical procedures.

Neurosurgery can treat: 

• The diseases, lesions, and tumors of the brain, the cerebellum, the spinal cord and the peripheral nerve
• Strokes
• Malformations of the nervous system

The types of surgical procedures most frequently carried out in this field are:

• Lumbalgias
• Spinal surgery
• Cerebrovascular diseases
• Trauma to the brain and the spine
• Tumors (of the brain and spinal cord)
• Functional surgery
• Surgery for epilepsy
• Surgery of the facial nerve
• Craniofacial and skull base surgery

Interventional neuroradiology

Interventional neuroradiology deals with diverse procedures in the treatment of specific vascular and tumoral pathologies which affect the brain and the spinal cord.

The most common tests carried out in the neuroradiology unit are:

• The angiography 
  This is a diagnostic imaging examination.It enables specialists to study circulatory blood vessels using a contrast.
• The Myelography 
  This is a diagnostic imaging examination using a contrast. It studies the areas around the spinal cord, and the roots of the nerves.
• Search for thrombosis (obstruction in the blood vessels) 
  This can be carried out using a magnetic resonnance test.
• Samples and biopsies 
• Wada test 
  This is a test to evaluate those patients who are programmed to have surgery for epilepsy. It is connected to language and memory.

The main procedures and treatments carried out in this field are:

• Embolization of cerebral aneurysms
  Cerebral arteriovenosa and vertebral malformations etc.
  This medical procedure is an alternative to open surgery
  This procedure is carried out for blood flow and to enable specialists to treat abnormal blood vessels in the brain and other parts of the body.
• Carotid and intracerebral thrombolysis 
  Thrombolysis is a non-surgical procedure which permits specialists to dissolve a blood clot.
  A special substance is injected into the affected artery. In many cases surgery is not required afterwards as the blood flow is considerably improved.
• Angioplasty and placing of prosthesis 
  The Angioplasty consists of introducing a balloon with a catheter through a blood vessel. Once placed into the obstructed artery, the balloon is inflated, and the plaque which has been blocking the artery is displaced, thus reestablishing the blood flow.
  The blood vessels is kept open with a prosthetic material (stent, etc…)