Neurocenter

Neurocenter comprises the specialties of neurology and neurosurgery, as well as neuropsychology. We are responsible for the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of central nervous system diseases. The Neurocenter is one of the 13 departments in the Helsinki University Hospital Area.

In addition, we are responsible for round-the-clock neurological emergency care of the entire Uusimaa region and for the arrangement of emergency services in neurosurgery and demanding neurology in the Kymenlaakso, South Karelia, and Päijät-Häme areas.

We treat patients without departmental interfaces from evaluation of the symptom in emergency services to the required procedures, inpatient care, and rehabilitation all the way to the discharge of the patient.

We operate in a total of five hospital areas which have an outpatient clinic for neurology or neurosurgery and/or one or more inpatient wards. Surgery, emergency care, and intermediate care activities are primarily concentrated in Meilahti and Töölö.

Active international networking and cooperation keep our teaching and research activities at the forefront of medical development.

We conduct international top-level clinical research and have a significant amount of external competitive research funding at our disposal. We regularly monitor the quality of care and continuously strive to develop our activities. For example, in the treatment of cerebral infarction, our treatment results are among the world’s most cutting edge.

With their referring physician, the patient from any hospital district can choose us as the specialist medical unit to provide their treatment.

Divisions

Neurosurgery in the Uusimaa region is centralized in the Department of Neurosurgery at Töölö Hospital. We treat all neurosurgical patients in the Uusimaa region and in the hospital districts of Kymenlaakso, South Karelia, and Päijät-Häme.

All cerebral bypass surgeries in Finland are performed exclusively at our clinic. In addition, we treat complex cranial base tumors, cerebral aneurysms, and cerebrovascular malformations in patients from Finland and abroad.

Epilepsy surgery has been nationally centralized in HUS and Kuopio University Hospital. We have strong expertise in pediatric neurosurgery, and Finland’s only pediatric neurosurgery emergency service to provide care 24 hours a day operates in Helsinki.

Our Department of Neurosurgery is internationally renowned and appreciated for its top-notch special expertise in all areas of neurosurgical treatment. We are Europe's leading center in microneurosurgical treatment of cerebrovascular vessels, and we are also ranked among the best units in the world.

We are among the largest units in the world in terms of the number of surgical procedures performed to treat cerebrovascular diseases and moderate and severe brain injuries. Every year, we treat over 3,000 patients. Annually, we provide training to 100–200 foreign neurosurgeons on the latest surgical methods for microneurosurgery.

In neurology, we are responsible for the emergency services required in specialist medical care in neurology, as well as for neurological outpatient clinic care and inpatient care, and demanding neurological rehabilitation needed in the Helsinki University Hospital Area. For the rest of the HUS region, we are responsible for the demanding highly specialized medical care.

Potilas ja hoitajat neurologian vuodeosastolla

Our Emergency Clinic for Neurology at Meilahti Tower Hospital is the only unit in the Uusimaa region, where demanding treatment and diagnostics, including the thrombolytic therapy for cerebral infarction, can be implemented 24 hours a day throughout the year.

Approximately 80% of the patients on our neurological inpatient wards are admitted from the Emergency Clinic. The wards for demanding neurological rehabilitation admit patients directly from inpatient care. At the Meilahti Emergency Clinic for Neurology, we offer telestroke consultation to several professionals in the central and regional hospitals.

Our neurology outpatient clinics in Meilahti, Laakso, Jorvi, and Peijas are responsible for specialist medical outpatient care in the Helsinki metropolitan area and for demanding specialist medical outpatient care in the Uusimaa region. Our special outpatient clinics are the Brain Injury Clinic and the Rehabilitation Evaluation Unit (Paciuksenkatu 21).

In the Uusimaa region, for example, the pre-operative assessment for deep-brain stimulation of patients with Parkinson's disease and the programming of the DBS device after the procedure, as well as epilepsy surgery assessments and post-operative care have been centralized at Meilahti Tower Hospital. Demanding diagnostics of neuroimmunological and neuromuscular diseases has also been centralized in Meilahti. A referral for these services can also be made from outside the Uusimaa region.

Neuropsychology studies an individual's data processing functions and assesses their behavior and emotional life.

The brain is responsible for human data processing and emotional experiences. Brain diseases and injuries may therefore be associated with changes in these functions. These changes are called neuropsychological symptoms.

The aim of neuropsychological rehabilitation is to reduce the harm caused by the changes in data processing, emotional regulation and behavioral changes due to the brain disease or injury.