Neurosurgeon Recommendation in DC Metro Area?

Hey friends. I was diagnosed about two months ago and had my angiogram last week. I’m considering my options, but I know for sure I don’t like the neurosurgeon that Emergency Services connected me with when I was admitted. Anyone have any recommendations for a neurosurgeon they trust in the DC metro, DMV area? (I’m on the Northern Virginia side, but travel isn’t an issue.) Thanks!

Hi yyynation76,
I’m just reading this post now. I live in Northern Virginia. I had endovascular embolization (coiling) in Dec 2021, but I’m now researching who’s best to obliterate my cerebellar AVM. Do you mind sharing who you ended up going with? Thanks much!

Hi Kay,

I’m also in NOVA and recently had my AVM treated.

I highly recommend Dr Chandela, he’s with INOVA. He’s been rated Top Doctor in the area for many years. He handled my MRI’s and Angiograms, and while he didn’t end up actually treating my AVM (he recommended cyberknife due to the location in my brain), he was so helpful throughout the process.

Here’s a link to his INOVA page: Sidhartha Chandela, MD | Inova

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If you’re looking for a pediatric neurosurgeon, I would recommend Dr. Keating with Children’s National Pediatric Hospital in DC. He is one of the best, if not the best pediatric neurosurgeons in the world right now. Him and his team have performed many diagnostic and surgical angiograms on me, as well as holding very in depth meetings with me and my family to talk about further procedures, when they should happen, or to review my angiograms and MRI’s. I haven’t had to have him do open skull surgery yet, but it’s coming. And I wholeheartedly trust that guy! He just radiates the fact that he knows his way around a brain.

Here’s his page at Children’s: https://childrensnational.org/visit/find-a-provider/robert-keating

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I can second Dr. Keating. He treated my ruptured AVM when at the Children’s hospital back in 2003. He was great throughout the entire process. I eventually had to get retreated since I had more discovered (hence my recommendation of Dr. Chandela!).

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Hi Cole,
Thanks for responding and for the recommendation - unfortunately, I am already working with another neurosurgeon at Inova. You mentioned that, after 2003, you were retreated and Dr Chandela recommended CyberKnife (CK). If you went with CK at Inova, who were your radiation oncologist and your vascular neurologist? And were there any negative side effects and/or disabilities from using CK? If you didn’t use CK, what did you use instead and why, and where did you have it done? Many thanks again.**

Hey Kay,

Dr. Chandela did my angiogram in Dec 2020 and recommended me getting the CK due to the location of my AVMs.

He assigned me to Dr. Kanani at Inova (Samir Kanani, MD | Inova).

Dr. Kanani was very helpful and clear. (He called himself THE AVM guy at Inova when it comes to CK). He’s at Inova at the Schar Institute. That’s where they did the Cyberknife.

The only issue I had came from the fact that I had two treatments of CK to the same area of my brain within a month (April and May of 2021). Then a month after the second treatment (June 2021), I was working a lot, sleeping little, and doing both while dehydrated, so I ended up having a seizure. I’ve been on Keppra since with no side affects and doing well. For that I’m seeing Dr. Kurukumbi (Mohankumar Kurukumbi, MD | Inova). I’ll be meeting with him in June to see about getting off Keppra.

October 2022 Dr. Chandela did another angiogram and saw my two AVMs were gone.