Professor Hans Clusmann, MD

Professor Hans Clusmann, MD (Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. Hans Clusmann) has been Head of the Department of Neurosurgery at Aachen University Hospital, part of RWTH Aachen University, since 2010.

After completing his medical studies at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Cologne and at the University of California, Los Angeles, and defending his experimental doctoral thesis with distinction at the Institute of Neurophysiology of the University of Cologne, Dr Clusmann held a number of posts in the Department of Neurosurgery at Bonn University Hospital, becoming a senior consultant in 2003. In 2004 he was awarded the title of Privatdozent by the University of Bonn together with the right to teach. After completing his habilitation, Professor Clusmann took up the post of leading senior consultant in the Department of Neurosurgery at Bonn University Hospital.

Between 2007 and 2009 Prof. Clusmann carried out extensive consulting and surgical work in a number of Arab countries. In 2009 he became Deputy Head of the Department of Neurosurgery at Bonn University Hospital. That same year he was offered a professorship in the Department of Neurosurgery at Münster University Hospital and, also in 2009, at Giessen University Hospital. In May 2010 Professor Clusmann was appointed Head of the Department of Neurosurgery at Aachen University Hospital.

Prof. Clusmann is a neurosurgeon with additional qualifications in neurosurgical intensive care medicine and in oncological, vascular and spinal neurosurgery.

He is a member of the German Society of Neurosurgery (DGN) and of the Professional Association of German Neurosurgeons (BDN), as well as of the German Spine Society (DWG). The department he heads is certified by the German Society of Neurosurgery.

Prof. Clusmann favours minimally invasive and microsurgical techniques; he operates using the surgical microscope, the spinal endoscope, neuronavigation and computer-assisted three-dimensional imaging.

Prof. H. Clusmann has received numerous scientific awards, among them the Hans Imhoff research prize of the Faculty of Medicine in Cologne (1998) and the 2001 incentive award of the Neurosurgical Research Foundation of the German Society of Neurosurgery (DGNC).

The clinical focus of Prof. Clusmann's work includes: surgical treatment of brain and skull base tumours, including procedures with neuronavigation and intraoperative monitoring; skull base and pituitary surgery; vascular neurosurgery; epilepsy surgery; paediatric neurosurgery, including endoscopic surgery for hydrocephalus; treatment of traumatic brain injury; degenerative diseases of the spinal cord as well as disc disease of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine with damage to the nerve roots or the spinal cord; benign and malignant tumours of the spinal cord and spinal canal and spinal trauma; peripheral nerve tumours; minimally invasive treatment of degenerative spinal disease, for example osteoporotic vertebral fractures; spinal neurosurgery; endoscopic reconstructive surgery of the spinal cord and complex spinal fusion.

Department of Neurosurgery, Aachen University Hospital

The Department of Neurosurgery at Aachen University Hospital, headed by Prof. Dr. med. Clusmann, mainly performs surgery for complex disorders of the brain and spinal cord and is therefore a leading provider of high-technology care in the region.

The department specialises in microsurgical and endoscopic procedures as well as in conventional open surgery and the treatment of rare diseases. Vascular malformations of the nervous system such as complex aneurysms, spinal fistulas, haemangioblastomas and angiomas are operated on using video angiography and micro-Doppler ultrasound; the department also performs extra-/intracranial bypass surgery (AC/IC).

In paediatric neurosurgery the department works closely with the Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine: it successfully operates on cranial anomalies and deformities as well as on hydrocephalus, including in children under the age of two. Neuroendoscopic techniques and high-resolution navigation technology are used during surgery. When examining children the doctors aim to keep radiation exposure to a minimum, obtaining all the information they need from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound. The department treats children and adolescents with encephalocele, spinal lipomas, neurocytomas and other rare conditions.

In neuro-oncology the Department of Neurosurgery uses the latest medical techniques, including neuronavigation, intraoperative ultrasound and delineation of tumour margins with a fluorescent tumour marker. Specialised ultrasound technology makes it possible to display the course of the cerebral blood vessels on a computer screen, which is invaluable in preventing strokes and haemorrhage. In cooperation with the departments of haematology, oncology and radiation oncology, an individual treatment concept is developed for every patient in line with the latest scientific evidence.

The department performs the full range of neurosurgical operations, including procedures using electronic digital navigation systems, surgical microscopes, lasers, robot-assisted techniques, intraoperative three-dimensional ultrasound, endoscopy and electrophysiological monitoring, which is in line with the latest innovative standards of surgical technique. The department is equipped with the BrainSuite® system for MRI monitoring during surgery. Its leading areas of expertise are the treatment of brain and spinal cord tumours and of neurovascular disease, paediatric neurosurgery, pituitary surgery, functional stereotaxy and stereotactic radiotherapy, the treatment of gliomas (glioblastomas, anaplastic gliomas, early-stage gliomas), malformations (aneurysms, angiomas, cavernomas) and of arteriovenous fistulas of the dura mater and the cerebral cortex. Minimally invasive methods are used successfully, in particular endovascular catheterisation and vessel stenting to stabilise the vessel.

In spinal surgery the department's doctors are equally proficient in every technique required, from repair of a herniated intervertebral disc to complex spinal fixation. Vascular disorders are treated in cooperation with neuroradiologists.

Areas of expertise

neuro-oncology (tumours and metastases);
neurovascular syndromes;
spinal neurosurgery;
microstereotactic functional neurosurgery;
peripheral nerve surgery;
neurotraumatology;
neuromodulation;
surgery for tumours and vascular disorders of the brain and spinal cord;
surgery for tumours of the skull base, meningiomas, pituitary tumours and tumours of the orbital region;
paediatric neurosurgery and neuroendoscopy;
minimally invasive and endoscopic neurosurgery;
spinal surgery and microsurgery (including microsurgical decompression, complex spinal fusion, etc.);
epilepsy surgery;
brain tumour surgery using intraoperative MRI (BrainSuite®);
intraoperative angiography in the surgical treatment of aneurysms (clipping) and
arteriovenous angiomas;
nerve grafting and nerve repair;
decompression of the spinal canal with and without instrumentation;
deep brain stimulation and functional neurosurgery for Parkinson's disease,
trigeminal neuralgia and epilepsy;
microvascular decompression using the Jannetta technique;
surgical treatment of brain and skull base tumours;
surgical treatment of cerebral blood vessels;
surgical treatment of degenerative and traumatic spinal injuries;
surgical treatment of malformations of the brain and spinal cord;
surgical correction of skull deformities;
surgical treatment of intraspinal tumours;
surgical treatment of pain syndromes;
implantation of electrical stimulators for the treatment of pain syndromes and movement disorders (functional neurosurgery);
surgical and intensive care treatment of traumatic brain injury.

Range of diagnostic services

magnetic resonance imaging;
computed tomography;
FET-PET (PET with 18F-fluoroethyltyrosine);
conventional X-ray;
angiography;
myelography;
intraoperative neuromonitoring;
neuronavigation;
intraoperative fluorescence angiography;
transcranial magnetic stimulation;
nerve conduction velocity studies, electromyography (EMG), evoked
potentials (EP);
Doppler ultrasound of the cerebral vessels;
intraoperative MRI monitoring;
conventional and functional MRI;
spiral CT;
two-dimensional rotational angiography;
electrophysiological neuromonitoring during surgery;
presurgical epilepsy diagnostics.

Conditions treated

acoustic neuroma;
diseases of the cerebral blood vessels;
diseases of the spinal cord and spine;
hydrocephalus;
malformations of the craniospinal axis;
traumatic brain injury;
glioma and glioblastoma;
malformations of the cerebral vessels (aneurysms and arteriovenous angiomas);
injuries of nerves and nerve plexuses;
spinal canal stenosis and spondylolisthesis;
movement disorders (Parkinson's disease);
trigeminal neuralgia;
astrocytomas, glioblastomas (MRI monitoring during surgery with the BrainSuite® system);
fluorescence labelling and navigation;
meningiomas (including neuronavigation);
acoustic nerve neuromas (monitoring during surgery);
pituitary tumours (MRI monitoring during surgery);
malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours;
tumours of the spinal cord region (monitoring and ultrasound during surgery);
aneurysms and angiomas (surgical and invasive treatment);
cavernomas;
herniated intervertebral disc;
spinal canal stenosis;
spondylolisthesis – dynamic stabilisation.
deep brain stimulation for motor disorders (Parkinson's disease);
epilepsy surgery;
spina bifida (myelomeningocele);
hydrocephalus;
various types of skull deformity;
carpal tunnel syndrome;
cubital tunnel syndrome;
nerve plexus surgery;
neurosurgical pain therapy;
trigeminal neuralgia.