Tumors and other lesions of the spine require highly specialized surgical expertise. Some arise within the bones of the spine, while others develop inside the protective covering of the spinal cord or within the spinal cord itself. Because these conditions often involve delicate neural structures, successful treatment depends on meticulous microsurgical technique, advanced technology, and thoughtful surgical planning.
As a dual fellowship-trained neurosurgeon, Dr. Chan combines expertise in microsurgery with advanced minimally invasive spine surgery to provide individualized treatment for patients with spinal tumors and other complex spinal disorders. Whenever appropriate, he utilizes minimally invasive approaches that can reduce tissue disruption, blood loss, postoperative pain, and recovery time without compromising surgical goals.
Dr. Chan treats a broad spectrum of spinal tumors, including metastatic tumors, primary spinal tumors, intradural tumors, spinal cord tumors, and other rare spinal pathologies. He also has expertise in treating uncommon conditions such as arachnoid webs, cavernous malformations, and other lesions affecting the spinal cord and surrounding nerves.
Many of these procedures require sophisticated operative technologies, including high-powered microsurgical visualization, intraoperative neuromonitoring, advanced spinal navigation, and specialized microsurgical instruments. These resources, combined with multidisciplinary care at Columbia University/NewYork-Presbyterian, allow Dr. Chan to offer comprehensive treatment for some of the most complex spinal conditions.
Learn more: Dr. Chan has published and presented his surgical techniques for minimally invasive spinal tumor surgery and microsurgical treatment of rare spinal cord disorders. His published operative videos include minimally invasive transpedicular corpectomy for spinal tumor resection, microsurgical resection of a cervical arachnoid web, and resection of a thoracic spinal cord cavernous malformation.
