Professional background

Mr. Vittorio Russo is a consultant spinal neurosurgeon at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UCLH and honorary associate professor at the Institute of Neurology, UCL.

He trained in neurosurgery and specialised further in complex spinal surgery. He completed the highly specialised complex spinal orthopaedic training fellowship at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford focusing on advanced surgical techniques for primary spinal bone tumours as well as paediatric and adult deformity and scoliosis.

He also completed the prestigious Victor Horsley combined orthopaedic-neurosurgical training fellowship at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore and at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square with an emphasis on advanced surgical techniques for spinal neurogenic tumour and complex cervical spine surgery.

Mr. Russo also spent over two years in New Orleans, USA at the Louisiana State University and completed a fellowship in neurosurgery focusing on surgery involving the cranio-cervical junction and the study of the surgical anatomy and advanced approaches to the brain and spine. During the time spent in the USA he was also honoured to collaborate with Professor Albert Rhoton in Florida, world renown neurosurgeon and pioneer of the modern neurosurgery.

Mr. Russo is author of many publications on international journals with emphasis on surgical anatomy, minimally invasive surgery, and advanced surgical techniques. He has presented at international congresses in the USA, UK and Europe. He won the best podium presentation award at the congress of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies. He was also awarded with the prestigious Presidents’ Travelling Fellowship from the British Scoliosis Society (BSS) and the British Association of Spine Surgeons (BASS).

His expertises include the treatment of spinal intradural and extradural tumours, bone tumours including metastatic spinal disease, complex cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine reconstructive surgery including deformities, spinal traumas, cranio-cervical junction surgery, minimally invasive spinal surgery, cervical artificial discs and spinal motion preservation.

He is currently the lead clinician for the acute spinal tumour service, including metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC) at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square.

Mr Russo is member of the British Association of Spinal Surgeons (BASS), The Society of British Neurological Surgeons (SBNS), The General Medical Council (GMC) and The American Association of Neurological surgeons (AANS).

Publications

Barbagallo GM, Assietti R, Corbino L, Olindo G, Foti P, Russo V and Albanese V: Early results and review of the literature of a novel hybrid surgical technique combining cervical arthrodesis and disc arthroplasty for treating multilevel degenerative disc disease. Opposite or complementary techniques? European Spine Journal. June 2009;18 Suppl 1:29-39

Russo V, Platania N, Graziano F, Albanese V: Cervical spine chondroma arising from C5 right hemilamina: a rare cause of spinal cord compression. Case report and review of the literature. Journal of Neurosurgical Sciences. Sept 2010;54(3):113-7

Ulm AJ, Quiroga M, Russo A, Russo V, Graziano F, Velasquez A, Albanese E: Normal anatomical variations of the V3 segment of the vertebral artery: surgical implications. Journal of Neurosurgery (Spine). Oct 2010;13(4):451-60

Russo VM, Graziano F, Russo A, Albanese E, Ulm AJ: High Anterior Cervical approach to the Clivus and Foramen Magnum: A microsurgical anatomy study. Neurosurgery. 2011 Sep;69(1 Suppl Operative):ons103-14; discussion ons115-6

Russo VM, Graziano F, Russo A, Albanese E, Ulm AJ: Minimally Invasive Supracondylar Transtubercular (MIST) approach to the lower clivus: A microsurgical anatomy study. World Neurosurgery. May 2012; 77(5-6):704-12. Epub 2011 Nov 11

Russo VM, Graziano F, Peris-Celda M, Russo A, Ulm AJ: The V2 segment of the Vertebral artery: Anatomical considerations and surgical implications. Journal Neurosurgery Spine. 2011 Dec;15(6):610-9. Epub 2011 Sep 9

Peris-Celda M, Fraziano F, Russo VM, Mericle RA, Ulm AJ: Foramen Ovale puncture, lesioning accuracy, and avoidance of complications: microsurgical anatomy study with clinical implications. Journal of Neurosurgery. 2013 Nov;119(5):1176-93. Epub 2013 April

Graziano F, Russo VM, Wang W, Khismatullin D, Ulm AJ: 3D computational fluid dynamics of a treated vertebrobasilar giant aneurysm: A multistage analysis. American Journal of Neuroradiology. 2013 Jul;34(7):1387-94. Epub 2013 Jan 10

Wang W, Graziano F, Russo V, Ulm AJ, DeKee D, Khismatullin D: Giant intracranial aneurysm embolisation with a yeld stress fluid material: insights from CFD analysis. Biorheology. 2013;50(3-4):99-114. doi: 10.3233/BIR-130630

Russo VM, Casey AT: Andersson lesion in Ankylosing Spondylitis. The Spine Journal. 2014 March;14:1357

Russo VM, Casey AT: Paget’s disease and spinal cord compression. When should we operate? Journal of Neurosurgical Sciences. 2016

Graziano F, Ganau M, Russo VM, Iacopino D, Ulm AJ. Emergency endovascular treatment of petrous carotid artery false aneurysm. Interdisciplinary Neurosurgery. 2014 March 2(1):21-25

Graziano F, Ganau M, Russo VM, Iacopino D, Ulm AJ. Vertebro-basilar junction giant aneurysm: lesson learned from a neurosurgical audit and anatomical investigation. British Journal of Neurosurgery. 2015. Oct;29(5):718-22

O’Brien A, Pushpananthan S, Russo V, Sewell M, Ram S. British Association of Spinal Surgeons/British Scoliosis Society President's Travelling Fellowship report 2014. The Spine Journal. 2015 Mar 2;15(3 Suppl):S13-6.

Russo VM, Ulm AJ, Kellow N, Casey AT. Cervical radiculopathy caused by Vertebral Artery loop. Insights from a very rare case. Journal of Neurosurgical Sciences. 2016

Baudracco I, Russo VM, Casey AT. Hybrid Bone HDP SPECT/CT in evaluation of painful degenerative scoliosis. The Spine Journal. 2016

Lonjon N, Russo VM, Barbarisi M, Choi D, Allibone J, Casey AT. Spinal cervical meningiomas: a real challenge for ventral location. World Neurosurgery. Feb 2016

Russo VM, Duits A, Dhawan RT, Casey AT. Joint Arthropathy at the Cranio-Vertebral Junction. Scintigraphic patterns on Bone SPECT/CT. British Journal of Neurosurgery. Oct 2016