NEW YORK – Dr. Constantinos G. Hadjipanayis, Professor of Neurosurgery and Oncological Sciences, Chair of Neurosurgery at Mount Sinai Union Square/Beth Israel, Director of Neurosurgical Oncology at Mount Sinai Health System, and Director of the Brain Tumor Nanotechnology Laboratory at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, has devoted his entire career to the treatment of malignant and benign brain tumor patients. He spoke with The National Herald about his work, heritage, and the services available at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan.

Dr. Hadjipanayis’ team of neurosurgery experts at Mount Sinai Union Square includes Dr. Konstantinos Margetis, Chief of Neurosurgery, Mount Sinai St. Luke’s, and Director, Spine at Mount Sinai Union Square. A neurosurgeon with expert skills in complex spine surgery, Dr. Margetis specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery, pain management, and biomedical engineering, treating conditions of the spine and brain.

Dr. Hadjipanayis is a board-certified neurosurgeon and an NIH-funded scientist. He is a pioneer of the use of 5-ALA fluorescence-guided surgery and an expert in brain mapping for tumor surgery, Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery, minimally invasive

neuro-endoscopic procedures, robotic-associated neurosurgery, and Laser Interstitial

Thermal Therapy (LITT).

TNH: Thank you Dr. Hadjipanayis for taking the time from your busy schedule to speak with us. First of all, where in Greece are your roots?

Dr. Constantinos G. Hadjipanayis: My father is from the village of Mesoyi outside of Paphos in Cyprus and my mother is from Patras, Greece. They immigrated to Canada in 1971 and then to the U.S. in 1978. 

TNH: Did you always want to go into medicine?

Dr. Hadjipanayis: I did as a small child. My grandfather was from the small village of Mesoyi, outside of Paphos, in Cyprus. He worked as a janitor at the local Paphos General Hospital and when I would visit him in the summers he would take me there and I was drawn to medicine and surgery. He also helped perform autopsies on patients but as a child never saw this.

TNH: What is the most important thing the Greek community should know about your team's services at Mount Sinai Union Square?

Dr. Hadjipanayis: We are able to communicate to our Greek community fluently in the Greek language and provide expert care for neurosurgical disorders of the brain, spine, and peripheral nerves in both adults and children. We offer the latest technology advancements within neurosurgery including robotic-assisted neurosurgery, endoscopic minimally invasive neurosurgery, deep brain stimulation (DBS), Gamma Knife radiosurgery, robotic placement of electrodes for epilepsy, laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT), and fluorescence-guided surgery. Some of the treatments we are well known for include brain and spine tumors, stroke/aneurysm endovascular treatments, epilepsy, movement disorders (Parkinson’s disease), and minimally invasive spine surgery. We are available 24/7 for the Greek community and will treat them as a member of our family.

TNH: How has the pandemic affected your work, if at all?

Dr. Hadjipanayis: Yes, it has, but we have taken active measures of social distancing in our clinics and mandatory screening of patients for our clinics. We offer telemedicine appointments. All our providers wear PPE and our building entrance is screening patients with temperature measurements and questioning.

TNH: Are patients delaying treatment, for example?

Dr. Hadjipanayis: We did see many patients delay treatments early on in the COVID pandemic in the spring. However, we have cared for a number of these patients now and are busy caring for new patients. Our ORs, ICUs, and hospital floors at Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai West have been very good at staying COVID free!

More information about the neurosurgery team at Mount Sinai Hospital is available online: https://www.mountsinai.org/care/neurosurgery and by phone: 212-844-6922.