The USA Health skull base neurosurgery team led by Jai Thakur, M.D., FAANS, and including advanced practice providers, fellows and medical students, delivered a total of 14 scientific paper presentations – including 11 oral presentations and three poster presentations – during the joint North American Skull Base Society (NASBS) and World Congress of Skull Base Society Meeting 2025 held in New Orleans.
Thakur, who is the chief of minimally invasive cranial and skull base neurosurgery at USA Health and an associate professor at USA’s Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine, presented 11 oral presentations at the conference. He was invited to present 10 of his complex skull base neurosurgical videos selected through a peer-review process for the meeting. Among them was a surgical video selected to be presented as the meeting's best video session. (Figure 1)
“It was a true honor for my team and me to be selected from more than 800 speakers as one of the top six skull base neurosurgeons worldwide, and to highlight our surgical techniques from operating at USA Health at this premier best surgical video session,” Thakur said. “It certainly is a team effort from everyone at our clinic, in our operating rooms and within the hospital, to ensure good outcomes in such complex scenarios.”
Another unique surgical technique-based poster presented by Thakur’s fellow Mehdi Khaleghi, M.D., also received a distinction award. The poster presentation title was: Endoscopic Endonasal Transclival Transpetrosal Approach for Removal of Sphenopetroclival Chondrosarcoma: Technical Considerations.
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| Figure 1: MRI of the surgical video selected to be presented as the meeting's best video session |
In addition, Thakur was invited to teach a two-day cadaver course on supraorbital eye-brow skull base approaches, which was attended by neurosurgery residents and fellows from around the world.
Here is the complete list of USA Health presentations. Additional information can be found in the Journal of Neurological Surgery.
- Value of Advanced Practice Providers in Fostering the Development of Elective Early Academic Skull Base Practice without Residents/Fellows in a Tertiary Academic Center: A Unified Skull Base
- Quantitative Identification of the Supraorbital Nerve in Supraorbital Transciliary Keyhole Approach: Accuracy Analysis and Surgical Implication of the Medial Supraorbital Triangle
- Endoscopic Endonasal Transcavernous Approach for Removal of Pituitary Macroadenoma with Apoplexy: Technical Nuances
- A Large Ventral Cervico-Medullary Meningioma Resection: Juxtacondylar Far Lateral Approach with Technical Nuances on Dissection and Spinal Cord Rotation
- Ventral C1-C2 Kissing Neurofibroma: Technical Nuances on Skull Base Approach and Bilateral Cord Rotation with Maximizing Safe Resection Corridors
- Courthouses and Craniotomies: Medical Malpractice Indemnity Payments and Litigation Verdicts in Skull Base and Cerebrovascular Neurosurgical Practice in the 21st Century
- What Does It Take to be a NASBS President: A Cross-Sectional Study of Attributes and Academic History of Presidents of the North American Skull Base Society
- Extended Endoscopic Endonasal Approach with Odontoidectomy in a Patient Presenting with Unstable Pathological Type 2 Fracture, Retropharyngeal Abscess, and Cervical-Medullary Compression
- Is Naso-Axial Line a Better Predictor in Endoscopic Endonasal Resection of the Odontoid and Pannus Removal? Technical Nuances of Maximizing Corridor and Maintaining Occipital Cervical Joint Stability
- Combined Microscopic-Endoscopic Retrosigmoid Approach to Infra- and Supratentorial Posterior Fossa Epidermoid Tumor
- Technical Considerations for the Resection of Large Sphenoid Wing Meningioma: Strategies and Vessel Handling
- Retrosigmoid Suprameatal Transtentorial Approach for Petroclival Meningioma: Maximizing Retrosigmoid Corridor
- Tandem Clipping of Multiple Middle Cerebral Artery Aneurysms with Different Projection Angles
- Endoscopic Endonasal Transclival Transpetrosal Approach for Removal of Sphenopetroclival Chondrosarcoma: Technical Considerations
About the North American Skull Base Society
The North American Skull Base Society brings together specialists to advance the care of patients with skull base disorders through education, innovation, and collaboration. Serving a multidisciplinary audience — including neurosurgeons, otolaryngologists, head and neck surgeons, and others with interest in diseases involving the cranial base — NASBS provides innovative learning opportunities through its annual meeting, hands-on Practical Course in Skull Base Anatomy and Surgery, and online educational programs. The society fosters excellence in patient care and the scientific advancement of skull base treatment worldwide.
a) Physician Assistant Ursula Hummel, Thakur, medical student Garrett Dyess, and skull base fellow Adnan Shahid, M.D.
b) Ursula Hummel, PA-C, and Thakur with Neil Martin, M.D., neurosurgeon, who is famous for coining the Spetzler-Martin AVM Classification. Thakur spent time with him during his fellowship in Santa Monica, California, in 2020.
c) Thakur presenting a complex clinical scenario encountered during his practice at USA Health.
d) Poster presented by Khaleghi won the poster of distinction award.
