Ausaf Bari, MD, PhDFunctional Neurosurgery · Los Angeles
Patient Care

Specialized Care.
Informed Choices.

Start with your condition. Learn about treatment options and the considerations that shape an individual recommendation.

Movement Disorders / TremorEpilepsyPain & Nerve DisordersStrokePsychiatric ConditionsAutoimmune & Inflammatory DiseaseAll Treatments
Conditions Treated

Find Your Condition.

Start with what you have. Each page explains when a neurosurgical evaluation is worth considering, what the options are, and which questions to bring.

Movement Disorders / Tremor

Tremor, stiffness, slowness, and involuntary movement.

01

Tremor & Essential Tremor

Shaking of the hands during activity that interferes with eating, writing, or everyday tasks.

Incisionless focused ultrasound, deep brain stimulation, or radiosurgery when medication is not enough. Videos, statistics, options, and the tremor questionnaire, all on one page.

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Illustration of the brain’s dopamine pathways rising from the midbrain, with a cross-section comparing the dark substantia nigra in a healthy brain to its faded appearance in Parkinson’s disease
02

Parkinson’s Disease

Tremor, stiffness, and slowness that medication controls less predictably over time.

Deep brain stimulation, or focused ultrasound for selected patients.

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Illustration of a woman with cervical dystonia, her head tilted to one side by a tight, highlighted neck muscle
03

Dystonia

Involuntary muscle contractions that twist posture or movement.

Deep brain stimulation when injections and medication fall short.

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Epilepsy

Seizures that continue despite medication.

Illustration of an EEG cap on a patient beside eight EEG traces from both hemispheres, showing normal background rhythm changing to the large rhythmic waves of a generalized seizure
04

Seizures that remain uncontrolled after two appropriate medications.

A full evaluation, then resection, laser ablation, a stimulation device, or a cell therapy trial, matched to your seizure network.

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Pain & Nerve Disorders

Nerve pain, facial pain, hemifacial spasm, pain from cancer, and injured or compressed nerves.

Side view of a head showing the trigeminal nerve and its branches spreading across the forehead, cheek, and jaw
05

Trigeminal Neuralgia & Facial Pain

Electric, one-sided facial pain triggered by touch, chewing, or wind; and the atypical facial pains that need a different plan.

Microvascular decompression, balloon rhizotomy, radiosurgery, or neuromodulation, chosen by cause.

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Illustration of a spinal cord stimulation system from behind: leads along the spine, an extension wire, a pulse generator in the lower back, and a handheld remote
06

Chronic Neuropathic Pain

Persistent nerve-related pain after spine surgery, injury, or complex regional pain syndrome.

Spinal cord, nerve, and brain stimulation; pumps; targeted procedures.

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Inner surface of the brain with the anterior cingulate gyrus highlighted in orange above the corpus callosum
07

Cancer Pain

Severe pain from cancer that medication no longer controls, or controls only at a heavy cost.

Cingulotomy with laser ablation, pumps, and targeted procedures.

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Four-panel surgical illustration: an artery lying on the trigeminal nerve, the artery being moved, a Teflon pad placed between them, and the decompressed nerve
08

Hemifacial Spasm

Involuntary twitching of one side of the face, usually starting around the eye, caused by a blood vessel pressing on the facial nerve.

Botulinum toxin injections, or microvascular decompression for a lasting cure.

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Stroke

Lasting weakness after a stroke.

The Vivistim implantable pulse generator, a small rectangular device with a clear header where the lead connects
10

Stroke Recovery

Lasting arm and hand weakness after an ischemic stroke.

Vagus nerve stimulation paired with rehabilitation.

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Psychiatric Conditions

Surgery for severe depression and OCD, and research on addiction, in partnership with psychiatry.

Illustration of a deep brain stimulation system: two thin leads entering the brain through the top of the skull, running under the skin behind the ear and down the neck to a pulse generator implanted below the collarbone
11

Depression, OCD & Addiction

Severe depression, OCD, or addiction that has not responded to standard treatments.

DBS for OCD, DBS for depression through the TRANSCEND trial, and research on neuromodulation for addiction.

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Autoimmune & Inflammatory Disease

Immune disease treated through the nervous system.

A gloved hand holding the SetPoint System implant, a small metal cylinder about the size of a vitamin capsule
12

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Active rheumatoid arthritis that has not done well on biologic or JAK-inhibitor medication.

A small vagus nerve stimulator that activates the body’s own anti-inflammatory reflex.

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Treatment Approaches

Options To Discuss
With Your Team.

Every option has benefits, tradeoffs, and follow-up needs. These pages describe each procedure in plain language.

Illustration of a person with a VNS Therapy generator under the skin of the upper chest and its lead running up to the left vagus nerve in the neck
04

Vagus Nerve Stimulation

A small stimulator on the vagus nerve in the neck, for arm recovery after stroke, drug-resistant epilepsy, and rheumatoid arthritis.

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Radiosurgery planning screen for a thalamotomy: axial, coronal, and sagittal MRI with the target isocenter, surrounding fiber tracts in color, and a 3D view of the radiation arcs converging on the target
06

Stereotactic Radiosurgery

A single, focused dose of radiation for trigeminal neuralgia, tremor in patients who cannot have surgery, and selected brain tumors. No incision.

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An MRI scanner in a quiet, modern imaging suite
07

Laser Ablation (LITT)

MRI-guided laser treatment of a precise target through a tiny opening, used for epilepsy, cancer pain, and selected tumors.

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Fluorescence microscope image of transplanted inhibitory interneurons, shown in cyan, woven through the hippocampus, shown in red
09

Cell-Based Therapies

Transplanting living cells into the brain to restore what disease has taken away. Investigational, offered through clinical trials such as the NRTX-1001 EPIC trial for epilepsy.

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Consultations In Los Angeles

Ready To Talk About Your Next Step?

A consultation is the best way to learn whether one of these treatments could help you. Bring your questions; we will work through them together.

Request A Consultationor call 310-825-5111
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