Development history of the Neurosurgery Department and the Neurosurgical Center based in the City Clinic №7 in Almaty
The establishment of neurosurgical service as an independent discipline in Kazakhstan is in inseparable connection with the name of Azarova Yevgeniya Andreyevna. She was the founder of neurosurgery in Kazakhstan. Being a native of Kursk region, when the Great Patriotic War (WWII) began, she moved to Alma-Ata and worked as a doctor in the evacuation hospital. Yevgeniya Andreyevna combined her practical work with scientific and teaching activities at the Department of Hospital Surgery of the Almaty State Medical Institute (ASMI). During the war, surgeons faced the treatment problems of the head and spine injuries, including serious injuries of the peripheral nervous system, which caused the organization of a 600-bed hospital, based in the city clinic.
Y.A. Azarova (1913-1966)
To provide specialized medical care to wounded patients with traumatic lesions of the nervous system among other surgical departments, the first neurosurgical department opened in Kazakhstan. Azarova Y.A. headed it under the leadership of a prominent health care organizer and the first head of the Department of Hospital Surgery, Professor Victor Vasilyevich Zikeyev. Together they provided neurosurgical care to the wounded patients. In her practice, Yevgeniya Andreyevna was engaged in scientific study and wrote researches as “The course of gunshot wounds of the skull and their periodization. (V.V. Zikeyev, Y.A. Azarova, I.G. Kalinicheva)”, “Classification and surgical treatment of late infectious complications of cranial and brain wounds. (Y.A. Azarova, I.G. Kalinicheva)”.
Y.A. Azarova integrated the methods developed with the department such as one-stage removal of late brain abscesses, treatment of gunshot wounds of the brain and peripheral nerves. They allowed reducing lethality to 4-5% and the risk of complications and return up to 70% soldiers to service. She took her candidate’s degree in Moscow and opened the course of neurosurgery at the Department of Surgery of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1959. Yevgeniya Andreyevna became the head of the course and since then her further fate brought her to neurosurgery.
The Neurosurgery Department organized in the Almaty State Institute of Advanced Medical Education in 1964. In the Department under the leadership of Y.A. Azarova, neurosurgery began to teach as a separate specialty. Physicians from the republics of the Soviet Union underwent specialization and advanced training on the base of the Department. During the years of work as the head of the neurosurgical service, she successfully cooperated with the departments and neurosurgical clinics of Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv, Tashkent, Frunze, Minsk etc. Three neurosurgical departments organized in Alma-Ata by the 1974. Soon neurosurgical departments opened in all regional centers of the country by her initiative. The first conference of neurosurgeons of Kazakhstan and Central Asian republics organized under the patronage of the Ministry of Health of the Kazakh SSR held in Alma-Ata in 1973. It was the significant event for the recognition of Kazakhstani neurosurgery, because leading neurosurgeons of the Soviet Union – Babchin I.S., Khilko V.A., Konovalov A.N., Kandel E.I., Zlotnik E.I., Kariyev M.H., Romodanov A.P., Babichenko E.I. and others attended.
Y.A. Azarova with the leading neurosurgeons of the Soviet Union. A.I. Arutyunov, the head of the Research Institute of Neurosurgery named after N.N. Burdenko is in the center
Yevgeniya Andreyevna was demanding and extremely energetic in work process. She was able to turn an ordinary clinical round into a demonstrative lesson of clinical thinking. Until her retirement in 1978, she actively participated in teaching process and trained more than one generation of practical neurosurgeons. In addition, she performed the most complicated surgeries. For many years, Yevgeniya Andreyevna was a consultant of the largest clinics of Alma-Ata and Republic, personally participated and supervised regional neurosurgical departments, was an example in work and social life. State awards, gratitude of students and thousands of treated patients have marked her dignity. Among her students were Meiman Kozhekov, Vadim Evgenyevich Eiginson, Malik Abdoshevich Iskakov, Vladimir Abramovich Semeklitt, Alimkhan Rakhimovich Khalimov, Temirkhan Kalievich Mukhanov, Kenzhekei Shurayevna Shurayeva and plenty of other neurosurgeons.
Speaking about neurosurgery in the City Clinical Hospital №7 in Almaty, as well as in Kazakhstan, we have to mention the honored physician, Healthcare Professional of the USSR and the Republic of Kazakhstan, holder of the award “Golden Scalpel”, honored professor of the National Center of Neurosurgery – Meimantai Kozhekovich Kozhekov. The future outstanding neurosurgeon was born in the village of Akkul, Balkhash district in Almaty region on 30th of October 1940. After graduating from school in 1959, he entered ASMI and successfully graduated from it in 1965, specializing in “Medicine”. From 1965 to 1969, M.K. Kozhekov worked as a surgeon in the district of Almaty region. Kozhekov worked as a surgeon in the district hospital of Balkhash, but he became attracted by a new developing specialty – neurosurgery. In 1969 M.K. Kozhekov entered the residency in neurosurgery at the “Institute of Neurosurgery named after Academician N.N. Burdenko of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences”, where the foundation was laid, which would allow the young neurosurgeon to apply the knowledge he received in the leading center of the country upon his arrival in the homeland. After completing his residency in 1971, Meimantai Kozhekovich came to Alma-Ata and started his practical activity as a doctor – resident of the neurosurgical department in the city hospital.
Kozhekov Meimantai Kozhekovich (1940-2011)
Associate Professor Yevgeniya Andreyevna Azarova was the chief of the Neurosurgery Department of the ASIAE, which headed Neurosurgical service in Kazakhstan at that time. The department base was in the City Clinical Hospital №2. Yevgeniya Andreyevna immediately paid attention to the young colleague, who characterized by his desire to perform surgeries on the most difficult patients. Meimantai Kozhekovich was one of the first to operate on neurosurgical patients on his own, and mainly department workers did it. His teachers, besides Yevgeniya Andreyevna, were Anel Abdulovna Beremzhanova, Vadim Evgenievich Eiginson, Victor Pavlovich Bondarenko.
In 1976, Meimantai Kozhekovich appointed head of neurosurgical department №1, where patients from all over Kazakhstan got their treatment. He will be in charge of this department for next 34 years. This neurosurgical department at that time was the flagship of neurosurgery not only in Kazakhstan, but also in the Soviet Union.
Doctors from all over the Union trained at the neurosurgery department of the Almaty State Institute of Advanced Medical Education, based in Meimantai Kozhekovich’s department. In different periods Meimantai Kozhekovich’s students and his closest assistants were Iskakov Malik Abdoshevich, Semeklitt Vladimir Abramovich, Zholboldin Kumar Yelemesovich, Dragunov Yuri Makarovich, Shmeltser Alexander Yakovlevich, Hoffman Lev Abramovich, Telguziyev Serik Akhmetbekovich, Rabandiyarov Marat Rabandiyarovich, Dyusembekov Yermek Kavtayevich, Akhanov Gani Zhayshylykovich, Zhanisbayev Alibek Kazbekovich and others.
Kozhekov M.K. in surgery
Many years and selfless service of M.K. Kozhekov to neurosurgery honored with the “Honored Doctor of the Republic of Kazakhstan”, “Excellent Health Care Worker of the USSR”, “Excellent Health Care Worker of the Republic of Kazakhstan”, “Golden Scalpel”, “Honorary Professor of the National Center of Neurosurgery” titles and medals. He was the one of the founders of national neurosurgery, a brilliant neurosurgeon, a great friend and mentor. Meimantai Kozhekovich until the last days worked in neurosurgery, daily performing the most difficult surgeries. Teaching to young colleagues, he created a whole constellation of neurosurgery stars, who successfully continued his work. During his work as a neurosurgeon, Meimantai Kozhekovich performed more than five thousand complex surgeries on the brain and spinal cord, saved many patients from inevitable death. Before his last trip to the conference in Yalta on 22 September 2011, he scheduled surgery. However, this surgery wasn’t meant to perform. Meimantai Kozhekov passed away on 20 September 2011. He will always remain in the memory of his colleagues and students as a professional, mentor, friend and an outstanding man of his time.
One of the outstanding neurosurgeons of Kazakhstan is Akshulakov Serik Kuandykovich – Professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of science, “Kazakhstan Labor Man” titleholder. Serik Kuandykovich was born in Aktobe region, graduated from the medical faculty of Aktobe State Medical Institute, clinical residency and postgraduate studies, doctoral studies at the Research Institute of Neurosurgery named after Academician N.N.Burdenko. From 1996 to 2008 he headed the Department of Neurosurgery of the Almaty State Institute for Advanced Medical Education (ASIAE), performed complex neurosurgical surgeries in the neurooncology department of the City Clinical Hospital №7: at tumors of the basal parts of the brain, brain stem, ventricular system of the brain. He was the first in Kazakhstan to introduce the basics of microneurosurgery, endoscopic neurosurgery (transnasal endoscopic approaches, endoscopic operations for cerebral hydrocele); he applied neuronavigation for the first time, performed surgical treatment of epilepsy. Since 2008, he has been the head of JSC “National Center of Neurosurgery” in Nur-Sultan.
Professor Akshulakov Serik Kuandykovich, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of science, “Kazakhstan Labor Man”
Akshulakov Serik Kuandykovich is the Chief of neurosurgery of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In addition, he is a President of the Kazakh Association of Neurosurgeons, editor-in-chief of the journal “Neurosurgery and Neurology of Kazakhstan”, honorary professor of the Research Institute of Neurosurgery named after Academician N.N. Burdenko of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, a member of the Scientific Research Institute of Neurosurgery. He is a member of the Committee on Neurotrauma of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies, member of the Executive Committee of the Asian Congress of Neurosurgeons, editorial board of the journal “Acta Neurochirurgica”, The European Journal of Neurosurgery, editorial board of the journal “Pediatric Neurosurgery and Neurology” (Russia). Serik Kuandykovich is an “Honored Worker of Kazakhstan” titleholder; he awarded with gratitude certificates of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Also he is the laureate of the highest independent award “Platinum Tarlan”, awarded with the medal “Laureate of the All-Russian Exhibition Center” (Russia), silver medal named after A. Baitursynov, order of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Serik Kuandykovich is owner of Orders “Parasat”, the award of a sign of special distinction – Gold Star and Order “Otan”. Under the guidance and direct participation of Akshulakov S.K. introduced more than 60 new technologies, which performed for the first time in Kazakhstan, prepared 25 candidate and 5 doctoral dissertations and trained more than 30 clinical residents. Published more than 300 researches (80 of them in foreign journals), including 19 monographs. He is the author of 16 patents.
For today, Akshulakov Serik Kuandykovich is the Chairman of the “National Center of Neurosurgery”, the chief neurosurgeon of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, President of the Kazakh Association of Neurosurgeons, honorary professor of the Research Institute of Neurosurgery named after Academician N.N. Burdenko RAMS.
One of the founders of the Neurosurgical Center of the City Clinical Hospital №7 in Almaty is Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Yermek Kavtayevich Dyusembekov. After successful graduation from ASMI, he started his professional career working as a pediatric surgeon in the Regional Pediatric Hospital in Atyrau, where he worked from 1988 to 1995. From 1995 to 2000, he studied in clinical residency, postgraduate studies in neurosurgery at the Research Institute named after N.N. Burdenko (Moscow). Then he continued his work as a neurosurgeon at the same institute. After graduation, he got his candidate’s degree on “Analysis of surgical treatment of chiasma gliomas in children” thesis. In 2010 in Almaty, he got his PhD on “Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of malignant brain tumors in Kazakhstan and optimization of neurosurgical care” thesis. In 2002, Yermek Kavtayevich opened a pediatric neurosurgical department in the City Clinical Hospital №7 in Almaty and headed it until 2007. He engaged in surgical practice, taught students and residents. Then Yermek Kavtayevich actively continued his scientific neurosurgical research, working at the Department of Neurosurgery in ASIAE. Since 2008 E.K. Dyusembekov is the head of the Department of Neurosurgery, the head of the Neurosurgical Center of the State Clinical Hospital №7, the head of the neuro-oncology department, the chief neurosurgeon of the Health Department of Almaty.
Dyusembekov Yermek Kavtayevich, Head of the Neurosurgery Department, PhD, Associate Professor, Head of the Neurosurgery Center of the City Clinical Hospital №7 in Almaty
As a neurosurgeon, Yermek Kavtayevich Dyusembekov performs more than 300 surgeries per year for brain tumors – transcranial microsurgical removal of intracerebral gliomas and extracerebral (adenomas, meningiomas, neurinomas) tumors, including those with difficult access and deep localization (tumors of the third ventricle, chiasmal-sellar region, subcortical nodes, pontocerebellar angle and petroclival localization). He also performs microsurgical decompressions of the root of trigeminal and facial nerves in neuralgia, extracerebral reinnervation of the facial nerve. In addition to active surgical work, Yermek Kavtayevich consults patients with neurosurgical pathologies every day. He is a leading specialist and constantly takes part in conciliums, clinical reviews of the most severe cases.
Dyusembekov Y.K. in the OR
Yermek Kavtayevich actively introduces new technologies and world innovations in neurosurgical service of Almaty. For the last two years the newest world developments have been introduced in the clinic: craniotomy in consciousness (in order to preserve speech and motor function of the patient), intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring of functionally important brain functions, metabolic fluorescence navigation of deep brain tumors, 3D-cranioplasty of complex post-trepanation skull defects, etc. He is a constant participant in the development of the most advanced neurosurgical techniques. He is a permanent participant in the development of protocols of diagnosis and treatment of neurosurgical pathology of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Dyusembekov E.K. published more than 100 research papers, the author of three inventions on the following topics: “Method of treatment of malignant brain tumors in children”, “Tubus for removal of intracerebral hematomas”, “Integration of the algorithm of medical care for patients with cranial – brain trauma and the Glasgow com scale”. He has more than 30 certificates, 5 monographs: “Standard craniotomy”, “Epidemiology of malignant neoplasms of the brain in Kazakhstan”, “Echinococcosis of the brain”, “Gliomas of the chiasma and the floor of the third ventricle”, “The organization of specialized medical service for the patients with vertebral and spinal cord injuries”.
Yermek Kavtayevich awarded with the title of excellent healthcare worker in 2015, “For the exceptional work” title in 2019, Commendation for contribution to medicine from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In 2021, he got a deserved award “Golden Scalpel” of Kazakhstan. He takes an big part in the development of neurosurgical service of the Republic being the vice-president of the Association of Neurosurgeons of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a full member of the WFNS, Asian Association of Neurosurgeons, as a member of the organizing committee constantly takes part in international, republican, city conferences and thematic certified seminars and master – classes. Dyusembekov E.K. enjoys great respect and authority among coworkers and residents. Under his leadership, research papers and doctoral dissertations are writing.
At this stage, under the Yermek Kavtayevich’s leadership in the Neurosurgical Center of the City Clinical Hospital №7 in Almaty 5 departments are working – emergency neurosurgical service, department of spinal neurosurgery №1, department of neurotrauma and peripheral nervous system pathology №2, department of neurooncology №4, department of vascular neurosurgery.
Neurosurgical Center in Almaty provides medical care to patients with all types of neurosurgical pathology. Emergency and planned surgeries are performing every day. Almaty citizens and patients from all over the country getting their treatment here.
City Clinical Hospital №7 of Almaty is a clinical base of the Neurosurgery Department, where resident doctors and young specialists gain their experience. The neurosurgical center of the City Clinical Hospital №7 of Almaty has a full modern surgical equipment. Every day more than 10 neurosurgical world standards-compliant surgeries are performing in hospital.
Since September 2021, the Department of Neurosurgery in full staff has moved from the Kazakh Medical University of Continuing Education to the Kazakh National Medical University named after S.D. Asfendiyarov and successfully continuing its work.