Neuroradiology

The Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center consists of a 4-year medical school and an 850-bed teaching hospital. Serving a population of over 2,000,000 people, it represents the closest academic medical center to patients in western North Carolina, southern Virginia, and western South Carolina. The neuroradiology case load comprises a well-balanced mixture of congenital, traumatic, degenerative, infectious, and neoplastic diseases. The Medical Center houses a 150 bed children's’ hospital, a rehabilitation facility, and a comprehensive cancer center. The institution’s faculty includes internationally recognized authorities in neurology, neurosurgery, and ENT.

Clinical equipment for neuroradiology is "state of the art". Such equipment includes 7 helical CT scanners, 6 of which are GE LightSpeed with 3-D rendering and CT angiographic capabilities. The MRI facility houses 5 GE MRI scanners (4 operating at 1.5 T as well as one operating at 3.0 T).  Advanced techniques are available such as MRA, diffusion imaging, FAIR quantitative cerebral blood flow, fMRI (BOLD activation studies), multivoxel/multinuclear spectroscopy. A Siemens interventional angio suite is also available for exclusive use by neuroradiology. The PET facility has a Siemens cyclotron, and a GE Advance scanner and they are fully under control of the Department of Radiology.

Research for neuroradiology imaging is performed in fully outfitted suites and employ imaging instruments not listed in the clinical section (see above).  A 1.5 T Twinspeed GE MR imager and a GE LightSpeed CT scanner are situated in the research suites.  These imaging instruments are used solely for research allowing ample time for investigators to perform their studies.

The PET Research Core Facility also supports many neuro functional projects.  This Core Facility, located one floor below the MRI facility, includes use of the Siemens cyclotron, large chemical synthesis labs, and molecular and cellular biology lab, a Concorde MicroPet P-4 scanner (large enough to accommodate a primate head) and a full sized GE Advance PET scanner. The PET Core offers "full service" to investigators including radiochemistry, veterinary support/anesthesia, scanner operation and data management/analysis.

Approximate yearly workloads in each area are:

Neuro CT: 14,000 cases
Neuro MR: 13,000 cases
Cerebral angiography: 500 cases (no other specialty performs these studies)
Neurointerventional: 150 cases
Myelography/Discography: 350 cases
Kyphoplasty, Vertebroplasty:  120 cases
Neuro PET: 300 cases

Faculty

Joseph A. Maldjian, MD, Section Head
Michael D. Baker, MD
Jonathan H. Burdette, MD
 Allen D. Elster, MD
Carol P. Geer, MD
Annette J. Johnson, MD
P. Pearse Morris, MB, BCh, Fellowship Director
Christopher Whitlow, MD
Daniel W. Williams III, MD
Michael Zapadka, DO

Support Staff

Lucy Rossi              336-716-7849
Fax:                       336-716-2136

Fellows

Landon Edwards, MD
James Koonce, MD
Gopi Kota, MD
Ryan Sauer, MD

 

 

Fellowship Program