U of M Neurosurgery Department spinal cord injury research scientist and Director of Spinal Neurosurgery, Ann Parr, MD, PhD, has been named this year’s Morton Cure Paralysis Fund (MCPF) honoree during its 24th Annual Golf Tournament and Fundraiser. Scheduled for Thursday, September 5, the event will be held at Majestic Oaks Golf Club in Ham Lake, MN.
On July 11, 2019, two-month-old Colton Fearing underwent a unique endoscopic procedure to correct what’s known as scaphocephaly – an uncharacteristically long, narrow head. The condition was caused by the fusion of his sagittal suture, which is located on the top of the head, running from the soft spot to the back of the skull. If not surgically released, the fused suture could create several neurological issues.
NeuroSafe 2019, the fourth annual two-day national symposium dedicated to improving neurosurgical quality and safety, concluded on August 9 in U of M’s McNamara Alumni Center. This year’s event inspired one attendee from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System to write, “Excited to share the knowledge gained at Neurosafe 2019 with neurosurgery and quality and safety teams. Already looking forward to next year.”
Mason Christofferson was born almost two months early in January 2019. As they were preparing to leave the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in a Duluth, MN, hospital, the care team told Mason’s parents, Jen and Brian, that his head was growing too fast. “They did a CT scan and saw that he had hydrocephalus,” said Jen. “They sent us down to Minneapolis and he started seeing Dr. [Carolina] Sandoval, [pediatric neurosurgeon at University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital]. They did an MRI at the hospital to determine how bad the hydrocephalus was and told us he would need a shunt.”
Three-month-old Colton Fearing is a charmer. Incredibly vocal, his happy personality is already shining through.
