Klinik für Neurochirurgie

Effective interdisciplinary collaboration is the foundation of our team.

The diagnosis and treatment of patients with spinal CSF leaks always require attentive listening and the search for new solutions.

It is more than "just" a headache. It is treatable. And it carries the risk of permanent damage to hearing and the brain.

The longer the spinal CSF leaks remain unrecognized and undiagnosed, the greater the challenges. Patients often report months to years of untreated illness, frustrating consultations, and misdiagnoses. Patients tell about being diagnosed as migrain, fatigue, somatization disorder, psychiatric disorder, or "just a headache". Patients' history culminate in significant physical and psychosocial strain. The majority of patients find their way to us on their own initiative. 

Our current consultations amount to > 400 per year, with steadily increasing numbers. The total number of surgically treated spinal CSF leaks is > 300.

We treat patients from all over the world. The estimated incidence rate is 4/100,000/year (Schiewink et al. 2022), disregarding the likely high number of unreported cases.

We would like to contribute to reducing the need for these long journeys in the future.

Our goal is to share our experience and knowledge, and to provide long-term help to as many patients as possible.

Fellowships for healthcase professionals are welcome. Please contact any member of the team. 

You can find our publications on pubmed 

For more information about our research acitivities, please visite here.

Here, you can find guidelines for the treatment of SIH.

You can read more information about our diagnostic capabilities, and treatment options on these pages.

You can find contact information here.