Dr Ari G Chacko

Neurosciences :

Experience: 30+ Years

Education: Mch(Neurosurgery), MBBS

English

10:30 -17:00 Mon - Sat

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About Dr Ari G Chacko

Dr Ari G Chacko is a distinguished Neurosurgeon based at the Apollo Proton Cancer Centre, Chennai, India. With an impressive 40 years of experience in the medical field, he has dedicated his career to providing exceptional healthcare services to patients. He has concentrated on clinical neurosurgery with a focus on microsurgical removal of brain and spinal cord tumors, as well as endoscopic removal of skull base tumors including pituitary adenomas. He is a pioneer in the refinement of awake surgeries for gliomas, microsurgical excision of intramedullary spinal cord tumors, vestibular schwannoma surgery for facial nerve preservation and in the maximal safe resection of craniopharyngiomas. Dr Chacko also has considerable experience in surgery for epilepsy including disconnection procedures such as the hemispherotomy for intractable hemispheric epilepsy.

At the Apollo Proton Cancer Centre (APCC), the majority of patients treated suffer from gliomas requiring multidisciplinary care from Neurosurgery, Radiation Oncology, Neuropathology, Neuroradiology, Neurophysiology and Endocrinology. APCC is one of the best hospitals in India dealing with gliomas since the multidisciplinary team has trained in some of the best institutions in the country and keep up to date with recent advances in the field. Dr Chacko has a natural inclination towards interacting closely with colleagues in these disciplines to provide comprehensive care to patients with brain tumors.

Dr Chacko is known for his patient-centric approach, emphasizing the importance of understanding each patient’s unique needs and medical history ensuring that patients receive tailored care to their individual requirements. In his practice, Dr Chacko educates patients regarding their health conditions empowering individuals to play active roles in decision making.

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Experience

MBBS: 1980-85 Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu

Internship: 1985-86 Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu

Resident Medical Officer: 1986-88 CSI Basel Mission Hospital, Gadag-Betgeri Karnataka, India

Neurosurgery Residency: 1989-94 Christian Medical College, Vellore

Lecturer: 1994-1997 Department of Neurological Sciences Christian Medical College Vellore, Tamil Nadu.

Research Associate: 1997-1999 Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA

Associate Professor: 1999-2003 Department of Neurological Sciences, Christian Medical College Vellore, Tamil Nadu.

Professor: 2003-2022 Department of Neurological Sciences, Christian Medical College Vellore, Tamil Nadu

Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon 2022-23 Square Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Special interest

Endoscopic removal of skull base tumors including pituitary adenomas, chordomas

Awake surgeries for gliomas

Spine and spinal cord tumors

Vestibular schwannoma surgery for facial nerve preservation

Craniopharyngiomas

Endoscopic third ventriculostomy

Awards & Achievements

Program director for a structured fellowship program in Vascular Interventional Radiology and trained many students successfully under this fellowship program since year 2016.

Conducted the biennial international conference on stroke interventions - MASTER( Management of Acute Stroke Thrombolysis and Endovascular Interventions) series - MASTER 2016, MASTER 2019 in Hyderabad

Best paper award for paper presented on POST TRANSPLANT HEPATIC ARTERY INSUFFICIENCY IMAGING AND INTERVENTION: A SERIES OF 6 CASES in Society of emergency Radiology, National conference-2018

Best oral paper award for paper presented on “Endovascular management of very small intracranial aneurysms”- in ISVIR national conference - 2018

2nd Prize for Poster presented on “Oronasal approaches of CT guided biopsy for skull base lesions” in ISVIR national conference- 2018

Best poster award for poster presented on “Interventional management of visceral artery dissection in SLE” in IRACON 2017

2nd Prize in FRS/ Quiz in ISNR 2009-

Secured state 1st rank in state premedical entrance test -EAMCET in year 1999 ( Given State Govts Prathibha Scholarship for the achievement).

Secured all India 1st rank in postgraduate entrance examination for entry into prestigious PGIMER, Chandigarh in June 2006, scored all India 2nd rank in entrance exam for super speciality course in DM Neuroradiology and Interventional Radiology at PGIMER, Chandigarh in June 2009.

Nandamuri Award (in year 1995) for passing 10th standard (SSC) at a young age of 11 yrs.

Research & Publications

Rajan RR, Shyamasunder H, Chacko G, SD, Jeyachandran R, Chacko AG, Prabhu K, Rajaratnam S, Kapoor N, Thomas N, Pai R.Dopamine receptor expression predicts cabergoline response in persistent somatotroph adenoma.Pituitary. 2025 Jul 23;28(4):87.

Goyal-Honavar A, Abraham AP, Asha HS, Chacko G, Chacko AG.Functional transformation of a corticotroph pituitary neuroendocrine tumor 128 months following primary excision: a case report.Turk Neurosurg. 2025;35(2):355-9.

Goyal-Honavar A, Gandham EJ, Chacko AG.Pial laceration from a dural suture causing devastating neurological deficits.Acta Neurochir Suppl. 2025;133:21-5.

Vupputuri H, D’Souza WP, Ralte Z, Malleshappa V, Chacko AG, Rupa V, Rajshekhar V.Comparison of sinonasal outcomes in patients undergoing uni-nostril and bi-nostril endoscopic trans-sphenoidal excision of pituitary adenomas: a prospective study.J Neurol Surg B Skull Base. 2023 Sep 25;85(5):489-500.

Goyal-Honavar A, Markose AP, Gupta A, Manesh A, Varghese GM, Rose W, Jonathan GE, Prabhu K, Chacko AG.Distinct patterns of postoperative fever in paediatric neurosurgery patients.Childs Nerv Syst. 2024 Jun;40(6):1849-58.

Sathya A, Goyal-Honavar A, Chacko AG, Jasper A, Chacko G, Devakumar D, Seelam JA, Sasidharan BK, Pavamani SP, Thomas HMT.Is radiomics a useful addition to magnetic resonance imaging in the preoperative classification of PitNETs?Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2024 Feb 20;166(1):91.

Rajan R, Chacko AG, Verma S, Kapoor N, Paul T, Thomas N, Jebasingh F, Cherian KE, Sahu S, Shyamasunder AH.Predictors of delayed hyponatraemia after surgery for pituitary tumour.Horm Metab Res. 2023 Jun;55(6):395-401.

Gandham EJ, Goyal-Honavar A, Johnson LR, Gupta A, Thomas R, Devasahayam S, Prabhu K, Chacko AG.A negative-pressure face-mounted system reduces aerosol spread during endonasal endoscopic surgery.J Neurol Surg B Skull Base. 2022 May 17;84(3):217-24.

Cossu G, Jouanneau E, Cavallo LM, Froelich S, Starnoni D, Giammattei L, Harel E, Mazzatenta D, Bruneau M, Meling TR, Berhouma M, Chacko AG, Cornelius JF, Paraskevopoulos D, Schroeder HWS, Zazpe I, Manet R, Gardner PA, Dufour H, Cappabianca P, Daniel RT, Messerer M.Surgical management of giant pituitary neuroendocrine tumors: meta-analysis and consensus statement on behalf of the EANS skull base section.Brain Spine. 2022 Mar 28;2:100878.

Kurian DE, VR, Horo S, Chacko AG, Prabhu K, Mahasampath G, Korah S.Predictive value of retinal nerve fibre layer thickness for postoperative visual improvement in patients with pituitary macroadenoma.BMJ Open Ophthalmol. 2022 Jul;7(1):e000964.

Sarkar S, Korula S, Mathai S, Simon A, Balakrishnan R, Backianathan S, Chacko AG.Upfront adjuvant irradiation versus postoperative surveillance following incomplete surgical resection of craniopharyngiomas in children and young adults.Childs Nerv Syst. 2022 Oct;38(10):1877-83.

Balakumar S, Pai R, Chacko AG, Patel B, Nancy R, Balakrishnan R, Sarkar S, Sampath G, Chacko G.Telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter mutations in a cohort of adult gliomas: clinicopathological correlates.Neurol India. 2022 May-Jun;70(3):953-9.

Goyal-Honavar A, Gupta A, Manesh A, Varghese GM, Jonathan GE, Prabhu K, Chacko AG.A prospective evaluation of postoperative fever in adult neurosurgery patients in the COVID-19 era.J Clin Neurosci. 2022 Sep;103:26-33.

Gandham EJ, Goyal-Honavar A, Beno D, Pai R, Balakrishnan R, Jasper A, Gowri M, Moorthy RK, Chacko AG, Chacko G.Impact of grade on survival in pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma and low prevalence of BRAF V600E mutation.World Neurosurg. 2022 Aug;164:e922-8.

Goyal-Honavar A, Balasundaram A, Thayakaran IP, Babu M, Pai R, Joseph J, Jayachandran R, Chacko AG, Mathew LG, Balakrishnan R, Rajshekhar V, Jeyaseelan L, Sudarsanam TD, Chacko G.ZFTA (zinc finger translocation associated) fusion in supratentorial ependymomas: low prevalence in South Asians and no correlation with survival.World Neurosurg. 2022 Aug;164:e82-90.

Sarkar S, Chacko SR, Korula S, Hesarghatta A, Balakrishnan R, Mathai S, Simon A, Chacko G, Prabhu K, Chacko AG.A comparison of long-term treatment outcomes between giant and nongiant craniopharyngiomas.World Neurosurg. 2022 Jun;162:e587-96.

Goyal-Honavar A, Balakrishnan R, Chacko G, Chacko AG.Radiation-induced intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia in a cavernous sinus hemangioma.Neurol India. 2022 Jan-Feb;70(1):359-62.

Gupta A, Chacko G, Chacko AG.Prevalence and pattern of leptomeningeal pigmentation in the human brain and its role in the safe surgical excision of extra-axial brain tumors.Neurol India. 2021 Sep-Oct;69(5):1204-9.

Abraham AP, Pai R, Beno DL, Chacko G, Asha HS, Rajaratnam S, Kapoor N, Thomas N, Chacko AG.USP8, USP48, and BRAF mutations differ in their genotype-phenotype correlation in Asian Indian patients with Cushing’s disease.Endocrine. 2022 Feb;75(2):549-59.

Ajith A, Mondal S, Chattopadhyay S, Kumar A, Sthanikam Y, Chacko AG, Prabhu K, Chacko G, Vanjare HA, Rajesh RV, Banerjee S.Mass spectrometry imaging deciphers dysregulated lipid metabolism in the human hippocampus affected by temporal lobe epilepsy.ACS Chem Neurosci. 2021 Nov 3;12(21):4187-94.

Goyal-Honavar A, Sarkar S, Chacko G, Balakrishnan R, Asha HS, Chacko AG.Growth hormone storm following infarction of a residual growth hormone secreting pituitary macroadenoma.Br J Neurosurg. 2024 Aug;38(4):983-6.

Starnoni D, Tuleasca C, Giammattei L, Cossu G, Bruneau M, Berhouma M, Cornelius JF, Cavallo L, Froelich S, Jouanneau E, Meling TR, Paraskevopoulos D, Schroeder H, Tatagiba M, Zazpe I, Sufianov A, Sughrue ME, Chacko AG, Benes V, González-Lopez P, Roche PH, Levivier M, Messerer M, Daniel RT.Surgical management of anterior clinoidal meningiomas: consensus statement on behalf of the EANS skull base section.Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2021 Dec;163(12):3387-400.

Goyal-Honavar A, Sarkar S, Asha HS, Kapoor N, Balakrishnan R, Vanjare H, Chacko G, Chacko AG.A clinicoradiological analysis of silent corticotroph adenomas after the introduction of pituitary-specific transcription factors.Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2021 Nov;163(11):3143-54.

Salunke P, Sahoo SK, Chacko AG, Baishya BK, Tripathi M, Chabbra R, Karthigeyan M, Aggarwal A, Singh A, Gupta SK.Feasibility of conducting a virtual exit exam in neurosurgery during the SARS-CoV-19 pandemic.Neurol India. 2021 May-Jun;69(3):698-702.

Goyal-Honavar A, Gupta A, Chacko G, Chacko AG.Trigeminal hybrid nerve sheath tumor: a case report and literature review.Br J Neurosurg. 2023 Oct;37(5):1326-9.

Gupta A, Goyal-Honavar A, Jonathan GE, Prabhu K, Varghese GM, Rupali P, Chacko AG.Adapting management strategies for sellar-suprasellar lesions during the COVID-19 pandemic: a pragmatic approach from the frontline.Br J Neurosurg. 2024 Jun;38(3):596-603.

Goyal-Honavar A, Sarkar S, Asha HS, Kapoor N, Thomas R, Balakrishnan R, Chacko G, Chacko AG.Impact of experience on outcomes after endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery for acromegaly.World Neurosurg. 2021 Jul;151:e1007-15.

Shyamasunder AH, Pai R, Ramamoorthy H, Sakhti D, Manipadam MT, Kapoor N, Paul TV, Jebasingh F, Thomas N, Abraham DT, Paul MJ, Chacko AG, Prabhu K, Rajaratnam S.Clinical profile and mutations associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) and their first-degree relatives at risk of developing MEN1: a prospective study.Horm Metab Res. 2021 Apr;53(4):245-56.

Goyal-Honavar A, Chacko G, Chacko AG.Supratentorial primary paraganglioma with good long-term outcome following radical excision.Br J Neurosurg. 2023 Dec;37(6):1766-9.

Pramila PJ, Mannam P, Chacko AG, Benjamin RN.Progressive midbrain clefts after head trauma and decompressive surgery: a report of two patients.BMJ Case Rep. 2021 Feb 1;14(2):e238893.

Sarkar S, Chacko SR, Korula S, Simon A, Mathai S, Chacko G, Chacko AG.Long-term outcomes following maximal safe resection in a contemporary series of childhood craniopharyngiomas.Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2021 Feb;163(2):499-509.

Benjamin RN, Thomas M, Muthusamy K, Yoganathan S, Mathew V, Chacko AG, Prabhu K, Chacko G.Age-dependent reduction in severity and discrete topographical patterns in Rasmussen encephalitis: a link to cortical maturation?Pediatr Neurol. 2020 Nov;112:25-33.

Chacko SR, Abraham AP, Asha HS, Kapoor N, Rajaratnam S, Chacko AG.Selective perioperative steroid supplementation protocol in patients undergoing endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary adenomas.Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2020 Oct;162(10):2381-8.

Starnoni D, Giammattei L, Cossu G, Link MJ, Roche PH, Chacko AG, Ohata K, Samii M, Suri A, Bruneau M, Cornelius JF, Cavallo L, Meling TR, Froelich S, Tatagiba M, Sufianov A, Paraskevopoulos D, Zazpe I, Berhouma M, Jouanneau E, Verheul JB, Tuleasca C, George M, Levivier M, Messerer M, Daniel RT.Surgical management for large vestibular schwannomas: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and consensus statement on behalf of the EANS skull base section.Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2020 Nov;162(11):2595-617.

Abraham AP, Bindra MS, Chacko AG.Secondary bacterial infection of a solitary cysticercus granuloma.Neurol India. 2020 May-Jun;68(3):684-7.

Sarkar S, Chacko AG.Surgery for acromegaly.Neurol India. 2020 May-Jun;68(Suppl):S44-51.

Sathyakumar K, Mani S, Pathak GH, Prabhu K, Chacko AG, Chacko G.Neuroimaging of pediatric infratentorial tumors and the value of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in determining tumor grade.Acta Radiol. 2021 Apr;62(4):533-40.

Cossu G, Jouanneau E, Cavallo LM, Elbabaa SK, Giammattei L, Starnoni D, Barges-Coll J, Cappabianca P, Benes V, Baskaya MK, Bruneau M, Meling T, Schaller K, Chacko AG, Youssef AS, Mazzatenta D, Ammirati M, Dufour H, Laws E, Berhouma M, Daniel RT, Messerer M.Surgical management of craniopharyngiomas in adult patients: a systematic review and consensus statement on behalf of the EANS skull base section.Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2020 May;162(5):1159-77.

Vupputuri H, Gandham EJ, Mani SA, Raju KP, Aaron S, Chacko AG.Dynamic imaging of the craniovertebral junction is mandatory in patients with posterior circulation strokes.Eur Spine J. 2020 May;29(5):1078-86.

Valmiki RR, Venkatesalu S, Chacko AG, Prabhu K, Thomas MM, Mathew V, Yoganathan S, Muthusamy K, Chacko G, Vanjare HA, Krothapalli SB.Phosphoproteomic analysis reveals Akt isoform-specific regulation of cytoskeleton proteins in human temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis.Neurochem Int. 2020 Mar;134:104654.

Abraham AP, Sarkar S, Mannam P, Chacko G, Chacko AG.A rare case of a giant tentorial bicompartmental cystic schwannoma unrelated to the cranial nerves.Neurol India. 2019 May-Jun;67(3):932-3.

Chacko SR, Chacko AG.Antiprogesterone therapy in recurrent meningiomas: a disappointing end to four decades of research?Neurol India. 2019 May-Jun;67(3):706-7.

Konay AS, Williams A, Chacko AG, Singh G.A prospective randomized trial comparing topical intranasal lidocaine and levobupivacaine in patients undergoing endoscopic binostril transnasal transsphenoidal resection of pituitary tumors.J Neurosurg Anesthesiol. 2021 Jan;33(1):51-7.

Abraham AP, Thomas MM, Mathew V, Muthusamy K, Yoganathan S, Jonathan GE, Prabhu K, Daniel RT, Chacko AG.EEG lateralization and seizure outcome following peri-insular hemispherotomy for pediatric hemispheric epilepsy.Childs Nerv Syst. 2019 Jul;35(7):1189-95.

Geevar T, Pai R, Chacko G, Malepathi K, Patel B, John J, Chacko AG, Balakrishnan R, John S.Molecular profile of tumors with oligodendroglial morphology: clinical relevance.Neurol India. 2018 Nov-Dec;66(6):1726-31.

Tobin G, Chacko AG, Simon R.Evaluation of NT-ProBNP as a marker of the volume status of neurosurgical patients developing hyponatremia and natriuresis: a pilot study.Neurol India. 2018 Sep-Oct;66(5):1383-8.

Turel MK, Chacko AG.Endoscopic partial cervical corpectomy - opening a new door to create a wider window.Neurol India. 2018 Mar-Apr;66(2):452-3.

Abraham AP, Gandham EJ, Prabhu K, Chacko AG.Authors' reply: in defence of subgaleoatrial shunt!Neurol India. 2018 Jan-Feb;66(1):286-7.

Jonathan GE, Sarkar S, Singh G, Mani S, Thomas R, Chacko AG.A randomized controlled trial to determine the role of intraoperative lumbar cerebrospinal fluid drainage in patients undergoing endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary adenomas.Neurol India. 2018 Jan-Feb;66(1):133-8.

Subramanian D, Pralong E, Daniel RT, Chacko AG, Stoop R, Babu KS.Gamma oscillatory activity in vitro: a model system to assess pathophysiological mechanisms of comorbidity between autism and epilepsy.Transl Psychiatry. 2018 Jan 10;8(1):16.

Abraham AP, Gandham EJ, Prabhu K, Chacko AG.Subgaleoatrial shunt: further progress in the management of iatrogenic cranial pseudomeningoceles.Neurol India. 2017 Sep-Oct;65(5):1178-80.

Paul AP, Vedantam A, Korula G, Chacko AG.A comparison of the recovery profiles of desflurane and isoflurane anesthesia in patients undergoing elective supratentorial craniotomy: a randomized controlled trial.Neurol India. 2017 Sep-Oct;65(5):1053-8.

Sarkar S, Philip VJ, Cherukuri SK, Chacko AG, Chacko G.Implications of the World Health Organization definition of atypia on surgically treated functional and non-functional pituitary adenomas.Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2017 Nov;159(11):2179-86.

Gandham EJ, Sundaresan R, Thomas R, Chacko AG.A novel nasoseptal flap harvesting technique in revision expanded endoscopic transsphenoidal approaches.Neurol India. 2017 Jan-Feb;65(1):129-33.

Thomas R, Girishan S, Chacko AG.Endoscopic transmaxillary transposition of temporalis flap for recurrent cerebrospinal fluid leak closure.J Neurol Surg B Skull Base. 2016 Dec;77(6):445-8.

Gupta N, Chacko G, Chacko AG, Rajshekhar V, Jayprakash M.Fluorescence in situ hybridization for chromosome 14q deletion in subsets of meningioma segregated by MIB-1 labelling index.Neurol India. 2016 Nov-Dec;64(6):1256-63.

Thomas R, Chacko AG.Principles in skull base reconstruction following expanded endoscopic approaches.J Neurol Surg B Skull Base. 2016 Aug;77(4):358-63.

Velayutham P, Rajshekhar V, Chacko AG, Krothapalli Babu S.Influence of tumor location and other variables on predictive value of intraoperative myogenic motor-evoked potentials in spinal cord tumor surgery.World Neurosurg. 2016 Aug;92:264-72.

Turel MK, D'Souza WP, Chacko AG, Rajshekhar V.Giant vestibular schwannomas: surgical nuances influencing outcome in 179 patients.Neurol India. 2016 May-Jun;64(3):478-84.

Sivaraju L, Mani S, Prabhu K, Daniel RT, Chacko AG.Three-dimensional computed tomography angiographic study of the vertebral artery in patients with congenital craniovertebral junction anomalies.Eur Spine J. 2017 Apr;26(4):1028-38.

Abraham AP, Srinivas SB, Murthy M, Babu KS, Chacko AG.Surface electromyography activity in the upper limbs of patients following surgery for compressive cervical myelopathy.Neurol India. 2015 Nov-Dec;63(6):903-10.

Sarkar S, Rajaratnam S, Chacko G, Mani S, Hesargatta AS, Chacko AG.Pure endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery for functional pituitary adenomas: outcomes with Cushing's disease.Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2016 Jan;158(1):77-86; discussion 86.