Newswise — Schaumburg, Ill., July 30, 2019 — The Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) proudly announces the winners of the 3rd Annual Paper of the Year awards, honoring the most impactful papers published in Neurosurgery from July 2018 to May 2019 in select subspecialties. Winners submitted papers that challenged dogma, created a paradigm shift, and/or encouraged surgeons to rethink approaches to patient care, big data, and trial results.

The Paper of the Year awards highlight the collaboration between the CNS and Neurosurgery by calling special attention to the best original science published via Neurosurgery at the CNS’ largest platform, the Annual Meeting, to be held this year in San Francisco, California, October 19–23, 2019.

The Cerebrovascular Paper of the Year was awarded to “Accuracy in Identifying the Source of Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in the Setting of Multiple Intracranial Aneurysms.” Authors include: Jennifer L. Orning, MD; Sophia F. Shakur, MD; Ali Alarai, MD; Mandana Behbahani, MD; Fady T. Charbel, MD; Victor A. Aletich, MD; and Sepideh Amin-Hanjani, MD. The paper was originally published in the July 2018 issue of Neurosurgery. Author Sepideh Amin-Hanjani of The Illinois Neuropsychiatric Institute (NPI) of Chicago, Illinois, will be recognized on the main stage during the meeting’s General Scientific Session.

The Neurotrauma and Critical Care Paper of the Year was awarded to “The Intracerebral Hemorrhage Score: A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?” Authors include: D. Jay McCracken, MD; Brendan P. Lovasik, BA; Courtney E. McCracken, PhD; Jason M. Frerich, MD; Margaret E. McDougal, BS; Jonathan J. Ratcliff, MD, MPH; Daniel L. Barrow, MD; and Gustavo Pradilla, MD. The paper was originally published in the March 2019 issue of Neurosurgery. Author D. Jay McCracken of Piedmont Atlanta Hospital – Brain Tumor Center of Atlanta, Georgia, will be recognized on the main stage during the meeting’s General Scientific Session.

The Pain Paper of the Year was awarded to “Spinal Cord Stimulation for the Treatment of Chronic Pain Reduces Opioid Use and Results in Superior Clinical Outcomes When Used Without Opioids.” Authors include: Lucy Gee, PhD; Heather C. Smith, MD; Zohal Ghulam-Jelani, BS; Hirah Khan, BS; Julia Prusik, BS; Paul J. Feustel, PhD; Sarah E. McCallum, PhD; and Julie G. Pilitsis, MD, PhD. The paper was originally published in the January 2019 issue of Neurosurgery. Author Julie G. Pilitsis of Albany Medical Center of Albany, New York, will be recognized on the main stage during the meeting’s General Scientific Session.

The Pediatrics Paper of the Year was awarded to “The Preventable Shunt Revision Rate: A Multicenter Evaluation.” Authors include: Pooja Dave; Garrett T. Venable, MD; Tamekia L. Jones, PhD; Nickalus R. Khan, MD; Gregory W. Albert, MD, MPH; Joshua J. Chern, MD, PhD; Jennifer L. Wheelus, CPNP-AC; Lance S. Governale, MD; Kristin M. Huntoon, DO, PhD; Cormac O. Maher, MD; Amy K. Bruzek, MD; Francesco T. Mangano, DO; Vivek Mehta, MD; Wendy Beaudoin, RN; Robert P. Naftel, MD; Jase Basem; Anna Whitney, BS; Nir Shimony, MD; Luis F. Rodriguez MD; Brandy N. Vaughn, RN; and Paul Klimo Jr., MD, MPH. The paper was originally published in the March 2019 issue of Neurosurgery. Author Paul Klimo of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center of Memphis, Tennessee, will be recognized on the main stage during the meeting’s General Scientific Session.

The Peripheral Nerve Paper of the Year was awarded to “Novel Findings in Obstetric Brachial Plexus Palsy: A Study of Corpus Callosum Volumetry and Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Sensorimotor Network.” Authors include: Kishore Kislay, MCh; Bhagavatula Indira Devi, MS, MCh; Dhananjaya Ishwar Bhat, MCh; Dhaval Prem Shukla, MCh; Arun Kumar Gupta, MD; and Rajanikant Panda, BE. The paper was originally published in the November 2018 issue of Neurosurgery. Author B. Indira Devi of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences of Bangalore, India, will be recognized on the main stage during the meeting’s General Scientific Session.

The Socioeconomics, Health Policy, and Law Paper of the Year was awarded to “Drivers of Variability in 90-Day Cost for Elective Laminectomy and Fusion for Lumbar Degenerative Disease.” Authors include: Ahilan Sivaganesan, MD; Silky Chotai, MD; Scott L. Parker, MD; Matthew J. McGirt, MD; and Clinton J. Devin, MD. The paper was originally published in the May 2019 issue of Neurosurgery. Author Clinton J. Devin of Vanderbilt University Medical Center of Nashville, Tennessee, will be recognized on the main stage during the meeting’s General Scientific Session.

The Stereotactic and Functional Paper of the Year was awarded to “Long-Term Follow-up Study of MRI-Guided Bilateral Anterior Capsulotomy in Patients with Refractory Anorexia Nervosa.” Authors include: Wei Liu, MD; Dianyou Li, MD, PhD; Fafa Sun, MD; Xiaoxiao Zhang, MD; Tao Wang, MD; Shikun Zhan, MD, PhD; Yixin Pan, MD; Peng Huang, MD; Haiyan Jin, MD, PhD; Yongchao Li, MD; and Bomin Sun, MD, PhD. The paper was originally published in the July 2018 issue of Neurosurgery. Author Bomin Sun of Shang Hai Gamma Knife Hospital of Shang Hai, China, will be recognized on the main stage during the meeting’s General Scientific Session.

The Tumor Paper of the Year was awarded to “Phase I Trial of Radiosurgery Dose Escalation Plus Bevacizumab in Patients With Recurrent/Progressive Glioblastoma.” Authors include: Mahmoud Abbassy, MD; Symeon Missios, MD; Gene H. Barnett, MD, MBA; Cathy Brewer, RN; David M. Peereboom, MD; Manmeet Ahluwalia, MD; Gennady Neyman, PhD; Samuel T. Chao, MD; John H. Suh, MD; and Michael A. Vogelbaum, MD, PhD. The paper was originally published in the September 2018 issue of Neurosurgery. Author Michael A. Vogelbaum of Moffitt Cancer Center of Tampa, Florida, will be recognized on the main stage during the meeting’s General Scientific Session.

The Top Paper of the Year and Spine Section Paper of the Year was awarded to “Symptomatic Adjacent Level Disease Requiring Surgery: Analysis of 10-Year Results from a Prospective, Randomized, Clinical Trial Comparing Cervical Disc Arthroplasty to Anterior Cervical Fusion.” Authors include: George M. Ghobrial, MD; William F. Lavell, MD; Jeffrey E. Florman, MD; K. Daniel Riew, MD; and Allan D. Levi, MD, PhD. The paper was originally published in the February 2019 issue of Neurosurgery. Author Allan D. Levi of the University of Miami – Miller School of Medicine of Miami, Florida, will be recognized on the main stage during the meeting’s General Scientific Session.

The papers were subjected to an intense review process. Beginning with initial selection from the pool of eligible papers published over the eligibility period, the appropriate Neurosurgery section editors and Pain section representatives each presented a list of their top five selections for further consideration. Joint Section Chairs, or their chosen proxies, reviewed these selections and then reduced them to a rank-ordered top three. NEUROSURGERY® Publications Editor-in-Chief Nelson M. Oyesiku, MD, PhD, FACS; Neurosurgery Peripheral Nerve Section Editor Rajiv Midha, MSc, MD; Neurosurgery Spine Section Editor John E. O’Toole, MD, MS then reviewed each section’s top three and from there selected the Paper of the Year: Section Level and Top Paper of the Year winners.

“NEUROSURGERY® Publications is delighted to continue the Neurosurgery Paper of the Year CNS awards at the 2019 CNS Annual Meeting,” said Dr. Oyesiku. “We are incredibly lucky to have the brightest minds in neurosurgery submit their original papers to Neurosurgery. It was difficult to narrow the field to the awardees, however we are confident the selected papers each constitute a significant contribution to our field. We are proud to spotlight these leaders in publishing at the CNS Annual Meeting.”

“The theme of this year’s meeting is The Age of Reason for Neurosurgery, which is a reminder that the medical community must continue to critically evaluate evidence and publish important results. I can think of no better way to highlight this than through this year’s Paper of the Year awards, which recognize solid medical evidence to advance the practice of medicine, and neurosurgery in particular,” added CNS President, Ganesh Rao, MD.

The Congress of Neurological Surgeons produces a collection of four world-class publications, covering the latest advances in neurosurgical research and technology, as well as critical information on practice management topics, socioeconomic developments, and more. All CNS members receive complimentary subscriptions to the following CNS publications: NeurosurgeryOperative NeurosurgeryClinical Neurosurgery, and the Congress Quarterly.

View a listing of all winners with links to the papers at: https://2019meeting.cns.org/paper-of-the-year.

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About the Congress of Neurological Surgeons
The Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) is the global leader in neurosurgical education, serving to promote health by advancing neurosurgery through innovation and excellence in education. The CNS provides leadership in neurosurgery by inspiring and facilitating scientific discovery and its translation into clinical practice. The CNS maintains the vitality of the profession through volunteer efforts of its members and the development of leadership in service to the public, to colleagues in other disciplines, and to neurosurgeons throughout the world in all stages of their professional lives. For more information, visit cns.org.

About NEUROSURGERY® Publications
Neurosurgery, the official journal of the CNS, is your most complete window to the field of contemporary neurosurgery. Members of the Congress and non-member subscribers receive over 2,000 pages per year packed with the very latest science, technology, and medicine, not to mention full-text online access to the world’s most complete, up-to-the-minute neurosurgery resource. Operative Neurosurgery features technical material that highlights operative procedures, anatomy, instrumentation, devices, and technology. Operative Neurosurgery is the practical resource for cutting-edge material that connects the surgeon directly to the operating room. Clinical Neurosurgery is the official register of the CNS Annual Meeting. It stands as a record of the previous year’s honored guest lectures and presidential address alongside a preview of the coming year's abstracts.