Center for the CSF Disorders of the Brain and Spine

Comprehensive Care Centers

Overview

The Center for CSF Disorders of the Brain and Spine provides our patients with diagnosis and treatment of congenital and acquired cerebrospinal fluid disorders of the brain and spine. Patients can have these disorders as a child or as an adult and the center provides transitional care across ages.

The Center offers state-of-the-art surgical treatment and care based on current clinical standards and guidelines, working in close collaboration with patient advocacy groups (Hydrocephalus Association, Chiari & Syringomyelia Foundation, International Ehlers-Danlos Society). We also collaborate with national and international scientists to explore novel treatment approaches in hydrocephalus, Chiari malformation and Ehlers Danlos neurological disorders.

Rhode Island Hospital and Hasbro Children’s Hospital offer our patients a complete range of specialties required for treatment of those diseases: spine surgery, plastic surgery, ENT, ophthalmology, neurology, neonatology, pediatric and adult intensive care, and pain management.

Specialty Team

Division Director

Petra M. Klinge, MD, PhD

Professor of Neurosurgery
Director, Pediatric Neurosurgery Division
Director, Center for CSF Disorders of the Brain and Spine

Neurosurgery Department Team

Stephanie Slone
Physician Assistant

Yunika Presson
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner

Conditions We Treat

Tethered cord
Chiari malformations and associated abnormalities of the skull base and spine
Syringomyelia
Spina bifida
Craniofacial deformities
Normal pressure hydrocephalus
Fetal hydrocephalus
Complex pediatric and adult onset hydrocephalus
Neurological manifestation of connective tissue disorders (i.e. tethered cord and Chiari malformation in Ehlers Danlos disease)
Arachnoid cysts and other congenital cysts