Dr. John K. Houten's Credentials

Accepting New Patients

Yes, this doctor is accepting new patients

Biography

My professional interests include advancing image-guided and minimally invasive techniques to more safely and accurately treat patients with conditions needing spinal surgery. After completing medical school, a neurosurgical residency, and a spinal surgery fellowship at New York University Medical Center, I spent more than a decade as the Chief of the Division of Spinal Neurosurgery at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine where I oversaw a tremendous expansion of the volume and sophistication of spinal neurosurgery procedures. Some of my notable accomplishments in New York included performing the first artificial disc replacement and the first minimally invasive fusion procedure in the Bronx; and for performing several difficult spinal operations that drew regional and national media coverage. In 2003, I devised and organized an annual CME course on diagnosis and management of degenerative spine disease with the goal of educating primary care and rehabilitation medicine physicians about the latest developments and technology available in spine care. The meeting proved enduringly popular and typically attracts 200 participants, making it the largest meeting of its kind in the tri-state area. After spending a year to create a spinal neurosurgery program at the Marcus Neuroscience Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, I was tapped to lead the Spinal Neurosurgery program at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY, where I also serve as Director of Neurotrauma. In addition to seeing patients in the office and performing surgery, I am actively involved in a number of clinical research projects addressing a number of facets of spinal degenerative disease. I also serve as an ad hoc reviewer for a number of scientific journals including Neurosurgery, Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery, Orthopaedic Surgery, and Journal of Neurological Surgery. I live in Brooklyn, NY, with my wife, Gila Weinstein, an attending plastic surgeon in private practice.

Languages

• Yiddish

Education

• New York University School Of Medicine (Grad. 1995)

Other Specialties

• Neurosurgeon

Areas of Expertise

• Spinal cord injury
• Spinal stenosis
• Cervical spondylosis
• Vertebral tumor

Awards & Recognitions

• Valentine Mott Medal in Surgery
• Alpha Omega Alpha
• Children's Tumor Foundation Humanitarian Award

Publications & Research

• Intramedullary Spindle Cell Hemangioma.
• Diabetes and Cervical Myelopathy
• Thoracic paraganglioma presenting with spinal cord compression and metastases
• A rare case of panspinal Pott’s Disease simulating metastatic disease
• Pediatric intramedullary spinal cord tumors: special considerations
• ntramedullary spinal cord tumors in children under the age of 3 years
• Vertebral Anomalies in Siblings with Fanconi's Anemia
• Clinical correlations of cervical myelopathy and the Hoffmann sign
• Fracture through the C2 synchondrosis in a young child
• O-Arm Failure Traps Patient in Prone Position: Case Report
• Bowel injury as a complication of microdiscectomy: case report and literature review
• Nerve injury during the transpsoas approach for lumbar fusion
• Correlation of anomalous vascular and osseous anatomy in congenital kyphosis type I. Case report
• Image-guided percutanous fixation of sacral fracture." Journal of Clinical Neuroscience
• Clinical assessment of percutaneous lumbar pedicle screw placement using theO-arm multidimensional surgical imaging system
• Pyogenic Osteomyelitis of the Spine
• Spontaneous regression of symptomatic lumbar synovial cysts. Report of three cases
• Clinical and radiographically/neuroimaging documented outcome in transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion
• Comparison of postoperative values for C-reactive protein in minimally invasive and open lumbar spinal fusion surgery
• Laminectomy and posterior cervical plating for multilevel cervical spondylotic myelopathy and ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament: effects on cervical alignment, spinal cord compression, and neurological outcome
• Spinal cord astrocytomas: presentation, management and outcome
• Symptomatic Progression of Degenerative Scoliosis After Decompression and Limited Fusion Surgery for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: Case Report and Literature Review
• Swallowing and speech dysfunction in patients undergoing anterior cervical discectomy and fusion: a prospective, objective preoperative and postoperative assessment
• Spinal cord astrocytomas: presentation, management, and outcome
• Current Management of Intramedullary Spinal Cord Tumors
• Paraplegia after lumbosacral nerve root block: report of three cases. Spine J
• Morquio's syndrome and craniocervical instability