Gregory Cannarsa, MD, FCNS
Neurosurgeon, Fellowship-Trained in Cranial/ Tumor/ Cerebrovascular & Minimally Invasive Spine

​Background: I was born and raised in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. My extended family including grandparents, aunt, and uncle have lived in Naples since I was young. We visited at least yearly for vacations and holidays, enjoying the weather and relaxed atmosphere. While completing my neurosurgical residency at the University of Maryland Medical Center/Shock Trauma Center, I trained in all types of Neurosurgery both cranial and spinal. My focus is on cranial applications of Neurosurgery including stroke, brain tumors, hydrocephalus, brain bleeds, trauma, aneurysms, and other cerebrovascular malformations. During my time at Shock Trauma, we dealt with a wide range of life and death situations on a daily basis including severe brain bleeds and spinal cord injuries; that type of training taught me quickly about what is important and how to make critical, efficient decisions in providing patient care. I had great mentors there, including Dr. Marc Simard, who is one of the world’s experts in cerebrovascular neurosurgery. I have completed two additional fellowships including an enfolded endovascular fellowship at the University of Maryland/Shock Trauma, and a cerebrovascular and endovascular fellowship at Swedish Neuroscience Institute.  At Swedish, I worked with Dr. Cameron McDougall, who was among the first to do endovascular neurosurgery in the US, and has been on the leading trials for endovascular neurosurgery. The complexity and volume of cases I performed increased further, and again the main emphasis is always to try to determine what is the best approach for each patient in treating these complex problems. The goal is to ensure patients’ quickest recovery and the longest lasting treatment whenever possible. I'm also a strong advocate of "no hair shave" Neurosurgery such that the patient keeps all of their hair, and "invisible closure" which involves closing all incisions without the use of staples or sutures that need to be removed.

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Surgical philosophy: “Try to be as minimally disruptive as possible to the patient.” That includes not only the surgery itself, but everything from before the surgery to the recovery after the surgery. Any type of neurosurgical condition is going to be very challenging, and a difficult time for our patients and for their families. Minimally disruptive is a philosophy meaning we try to make the whole process as easy and as painless as possible. For example, in some cases with just a small needle stick into the artery, we can treat an aneurysm. However, in other cases, a larger surgery is needed, and my goal is to always ensure the surgery is as least disruptive and as minimally invasive as possible to ensure the quickest recovery for the patient. Another way in which the minimally disruptive philosophy can bring joy to the patient as well as the care team is after the surgery there can be times when we do a good enough job concealing the incision with a “hair sparing” technique that the nursing staff isn’t aware the patient has had surgery. So for the patient and for the care team, it really is a source of joy that what was once thought to be a potentially disfiguring surgery or a painful surgery is really not that in the end. When a patient looks the same as when they went into surgery they often get the same treatment as they did before surgery and their mindset and attitude benefit tremendously. It’s what I would want for my family and that’s why I do it.

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What do I value? I value the patient interaction. Nothing brings me more joy than to guide a patient through surgery-before, during, and after-and get them through to the other side in great condition and having them make a great recovery. To see a patient doing well after surgery and even something as simple as the patient saying, “it wasn’t as bad as I thought and I have much less pain than I thought," is what brings me joy. For me, if there was no patient then we wouldn’t have a purpose, so every interaction I have with the patient is what brings meaning to what we do. So in everything we do, that’s what we think of first. 

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See Conditions We Treat​ to see links to Dr. Cannarsa's lectures and research.