Best Neurosciences Hospital in Gurgaon – Apollo Hospitals, Gurgaon

Surgical treatment of brain and spinal conditions — tumours, aneurysms, bleeding within the skull, hydrocephalus, head injury and congenital abnormalities.
 

Emergency stroke treatment and intensive care for patients with severe brain injury, bleeding, status epilepticus and life-threatening neurological illness.
 

Catheter-based treatment reaching the blood vessels of the brain through a small puncture in the wrist or groin — clot removal in stroke, coiling of aneurysms and treatment of vascular malformations. [VERIFY neurointervention service and biplane cath lab availability]
 

Surgery for disc prolapse, spinal canal narrowing, instability, spinal tumours, infection and trauma, including minimally invasive approaches.
 

Neurological conditions in children, including seizures, developmental delay, hydrocephalus and congenital brain and spine abnormalities. [VERIFY paediatric neurosciences service availability]
 

Ischaemic stroke. A blocked artery cutting off blood supply to part of the brain. Warning signs come on suddenly — drooping on one side of the face, weakness or numbness in an arm or leg, slurred or confused speech, loss of balance, or sudden loss of vision. Treatment is time-critical: clot-dissolving medication is generally given within about four and a half hours of symptoms starting, and clot removal through a catheter is possible in selected patients for considerably longer. Reaching hospital immediately matters more than any other factor.

Haemorrhagic stroke. Bleeding into or around the brain, often from high blood pressure or a ruptured aneurysm, producing sudden severe headache, vomiting, weakness and reduced consciousness. It requires emergency imaging and, in some cases, surgery.

Transient ischaemic attack (TIA). Stroke symptoms that resolve within minutes or hours. It causes no lasting damage but signals a high risk of a full stroke in the days that follow, and should be treated as an urgent warning rather than a false alarm.

Brain aneurysm. A weak, ballooned area on a brain artery. Most cause no symptoms until they leak or rupture, which typically produces a sudden, extremely severe headache unlike any previous one. Unruptured aneurysms found incidentally are assessed for whether treatment or monitoring is appropriate.

Arteriovenous malformation (AVM). An abnormal tangle of vessels present from birth, which may cause seizures, headache or bleeding.

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. A clot in the veins draining the brain, more common in young adults, in pregnancy and after childbirth, presenting with persistent headache, seizures or visual disturbance.

Migraine. Recurrent moderate to severe headache, often on one side, with throbbing pain, nausea and sensitivity to light and sound, sometimes preceded by visual disturbance. Attacks can last hours to days. It is treatable both at the time of an attack and through preventive medication where attacks are frequent.

Tension-type headache. A band-like tightness across the head, usually mild to moderate, linked to stress, posture and sleep patterns.

Cluster headache. Severe one-sided pain around the eye occurring in bouts over weeks, often with a watering eye and blocked nostril on the same side. It has specific treatment that differs from migraine.

Medication-overuse headache. Headache caused by taking painkillers too frequently, which perpetuates the very problem being treated. It is common, often unrecognised, and improves once the pattern is broken under supervision.

Headaches needing urgent assessment. A sudden headache reaching maximum intensity within seconds, headache with fever and neck stiffness, headache with weakness, confusion, seizure or visual loss, a new headache after age 50, or one that worsens on lying down or coughing. These require prompt evaluation rather than a routine appointment.

Epilepsy. A tendency to recurrent seizures caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain. Seizures vary widely — convulsions with loss of consciousness, brief staring spells, or episodes of unusual sensation or movement. Most patients achieve good control with medication, and epilepsy is compatible with normal work and family life.

First seizure. A single seizure needs evaluation with imaging and EEG to establish whether there is an underlying cause and whether treatment is needed. Not every first seizure means epilepsy.

Drug-resistant epilepsy. Seizures continuing despite adequate trials of two or more appropriate medicines. These patients are assessed for other options, including surgery, which can be highly effective when a single seizure focus is identified.

Status epilepticus. A seizure lasting more than five minutes, or repeated seizures without recovery in between. This is an emergency requiring immediate hospital treatment.

Neurocysticercosis. Cysts in the brain caused by a tapeworm infection acquired from contaminated food or water. It remains one of the commonest identifiable causes of new-onset seizures in India and is treatable once diagnosed.

Parkinson's disease. A progressive condition causing slowness of movement, stiffness, tremor at rest and changes in balance, handwriting and facial expression. Symptoms usually begin on one side. Medication controls symptoms well for years, and selected patients later benefit from deep brain stimulation.

Essential tremor. Shaking that appears during action — holding a cup, writing, eating — rather than at rest. It is distinct from Parkinson's disease and often runs in families.

Dystonia. Sustained muscle contractions causing twisting postures or repetitive movements, which may affect the neck, eyelids, hand or voice. Botulinum toxin injections are the mainstay of treatment for many forms.

Peripheral neuropathy. Damage to the nerves supplying the limbs, causing numbness, burning, tingling or weakness, usually starting in the feet. Diabetes and vitamin B12 deficiency are the commonest causes, and both are treatable.

Guillain-Barré syndrome. Rapidly progressing weakness, typically beginning in the legs and ascending, often following an infection. It can affect breathing and is a medical emergency requiring hospital admission and specific treatment.

Myasthenia gravis. Muscle weakness that worsens with activity and improves with rest, commonly affecting the eyelids, eye movements, swallowing and speech, with symptoms often worse towards evening.

Motor neurone disease and muscular dystrophies. Progressive conditions affecting nerve cells controlling muscles, or the muscles themselves, requiring accurate diagnosis, symptom management and multidisciplinary support.

Carpal tunnel syndrome and nerve compression. Numbness and tingling in the hand, often waking the patient at night, caused by a nerve compressed at the wrist. It is confirmed with nerve testing and treated medically or surgically.

Brain tumours. Growths within the skull, which may be non-cancerous or cancerous. Symptoms depend on location and include persistent headache that is worse in the morning, seizures, weakness, personality change, visual disturbance or vomiting. Meningiomas and pituitary tumours are commonly non-cancerous and often treatable with good outcomes.

Pituitary tumours. Growths on the small gland at the base of the brain, causing hormonal disturbance, visual field loss or headache. Some are treated with medication alone; others require surgery through the nose without any external incision.

Spinal tumours and secondary deposits. Growths within or pressing on the spinal cord, causing back pain, weakness, numbness or bladder disturbance. New weakness or bladder symptoms with back pain requires urgent assessment, as delay can cause permanent damage.

Disc prolapse and sciatica. A spinal disc pressing on a nerve root, producing back or neck pain with pain radiating into the leg or arm, sometimes with numbness or weakness. The majority improve without surgery over weeks with medication, physiotherapy and activity modification.

Cervical and lumbar spondylosis. Age-related wear of the spine causing neck or back pain and stiffness, which may compress nerves or the spinal cord.

Spinal canal stenosis. Narrowing of the spinal canal causing leg pain and heaviness on walking that eases on sitting or bending forward, common in older adults.

Spinal cord compression. Pressure on the spinal cord from a disc, tumour, infection or fracture, causing progressive weakness, numbness and loss of bladder or bowel control. This is a surgical emergency.

Spinal infection and tuberculosis of the spine. Infection of the vertebrae, which in India is frequently tuberculous, producing persistent back pain, fever and weight loss, and sometimes weakness.