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Neurosurgical Consultants of Washington (NCW) was founded in 1998 when five established neurosurgical practices in western Washington combined. In addition to a wide geographic coverage, this association promised the benefits of an extensive range of abilities and decades of cumulative expertise. NCW became the largest independent neurosurgical group in Washington, providing comprehensive neurosurgical care to the Pacific Northwest. In 2003, NCW became affiliated with Northwest Hospital & Medical Center, site of the first Gamma Knife® Radiosurgery Center in Washington.

Features of NCW
The eight neurological surgeons that make up Neurosurgical Consultants of Washington represent a range and depth of experience unsurpassed in Western Washington. Their training spans eight different medical schools and 13 major medical centers, providing patients with comprehensive, varied capabilities not often seen in other neurosurgical groups. Cumulatively, NCW accounts for over 20,000 patient encounters and more than 2,000 operative procedures yearly. Patients are drawn from the entire four-state Northwest region, as well as Canada and Alaska. NCW Care Centers are based in major hospitals spanning the Puget Sound, from north and south of Seattle to locations on the eastside of Lake Washington.

Diseases and Technology
While the specialty is well known for cranial surgery, increasingly, as a more active and healthy population ages, NCW’s neurosurgeons provide even more care for common spinal conditions such as sciatica, “slipped” discs, spinal stenosis, scoliosis, neck and back pain. The last fifteen years have seen an explosive growth in spinal surgery techniques, from minimally invasive spine surgery to innovative spinal fusions, kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty, computer-guided navigation and the recently FDA-approved Charité artificial lumbar disc replacement. The physicians of NCW were trained in the midst of these advances, allowing them to offer the most safe and effective treatments to patients as soon as they become available.

Advances have been astounding in the field of brain surgery as well. The neurosurgeons of NCW treat metastatic tumors, gliomas, meningiomas, blood clots and vascular malformations spread throughout the brain. Now MRI and CT scan data can be fed into an operating room computer to precisely guide them during operations. At Northwest Hospital, Gamma Knife® Radiosurgery allows treatment of multiple brain tumors, trigeminal neuralgia and Parkinson’s disease without an incision or pain. Deep Brain Stimulation, also at Northwest Hospital, has become the most advanced surgical approach for movement disorders -- including Parkinson’s disease and dystonia - available to patients worldwide. This procedure offers an alternative to the treatment of some symptoms not easily corrected with Gamma Knife®, and holds the promise of treating even more neurological conditions in the future.