Brain and spine tumor care

Neurosurgeons at Howell Allen Clinic with Ascension Saint Thomas deliver advanced care for brain and spine tumors, providing hope and healing with clinical expertise.

Brain and spine tumor care in Nashville

Neurosurgeons at Howell Allen Clinic with Ascension Saint Thomas deliver advanced care for brain and spine tumors, providing hope and healing with clinical expertise.

Neurosurgery at Howell Allen Clinic with Ascension Saint Thomas

When you or a loved one is diagnosed with a brain or spine condition, you want the best care. At Howell Allen Clinic with Ascension Saint Thomas, you will have a team of experienced neurosurgeons that are part of an integrated national network of providers, sharing best practices, knowledge and research while delivering advanced care close to home.

Your care team may also include neurologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, neurology-trained nurses and a nurse navigator. A dedicated nurse navigator will work closely with you to connect the dots for your care — providing support throughout the process, answering your questions and scheduling appointments.

Neurosurgeons and care teams at Howell Allen Clinic with Ascension Saint Thomas diagnose and treat complex brain and spine tumors, including:

Acoustic neuroma (non-cancerous tumor along the eighth cranial nerve)
AVM (arteriovenous malformation)
Cavernous malformation (abnormal blood vessels)
Hemangioma (a birthmark made of blood vessels)
Meningioma (a tumor that begins in the brain or spinal cord)
Metastatic lesions to brain or spine
Primary brain tumors (aliomas, astrocytomas, glioblastomas or GBM, oligodendrogliomas)
Pituitary macro and micro-adenoma

A multispecialty team dedicated to your care

Our Tumor Board, a specialized team made up of providers from multiple specialties, is part of your care from the start. Together, the board reviews each case and develops a personalized care plan providing services from diagnosis through survivorship including rehabilitation, nutrition guidance, wellness resources, and patient support.

During your treatment, highly trained neurosurgeons and other neurological specialists use technology to create a virtual operating room where the entire team can view and participate in surgery. This approach provides greater precision and collaboration during surgery, allowing your whole care team to work together in real-time to identify and deliver the right care for you. Our goal is to help you return home sooner and with a better quality of life.

Advanced brain and spine care

People who have a brain or spinal tumor may need surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, surgery or a combination of these treatments. Our program uses an iMRI brain suite, the first and only in the region, which provides more treatment options such as minimally invasive tumor removal procedures. With minimally invasive procedures, small incisions are used, which may lead to less pain and help shorten recovery time.

Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) is a minimally invasive procedure used to destroy abnormal cells while preserving healthy brain tissue. It’s also associated with less pain, less scarring, and a quicker recovery.

Using advanced technology, our neurosurgical team uses intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (or iMRI) during surgery for more accurate targeting, making abnormal brain tissue more visible. iMRI technology produces more successful tumor removal by delivering high-resolution imaging directly into the operating room.

Our brain and spine tumor program provides cohesive neurosurgery and radiation oncology treatments. Our neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists work together to help provide more accurate and precise treatment for brain and spinal tumor patients. Using 3D imaging, our compassionate, multidisciplinary neuro-oncology care team monitors you during radiation therapy to help ensure the best recovery.

We offer comprehensive neuro-oncology and partner with leading cancer centers to perform chemotherapy clinical trials.

Providers: Refer a patient

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Referring your patients is simple and hassle-free. Send your patient's medical records, and we'll take it from there — keeping you in the loop throughout the process while ensuring your patient gets the advanced care they need.

Call 615-222-7864

Financial assistance and support is available

We can connect you with resources and programs that may be able to help you and your family with options for financial assistance. Our financial counseling team is here to listen to your concerns and work with you to help find options that meet your needs.

If you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, go directly to the ER or call 911.