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Home > Doctors > Dean Chou

Dean Chou, M.D.

Neurosurgeon

Dr. Dean Chou, a neurosurgeon, specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery. He treats spinal tumors and spinal deformities such as scoliosis, kyphosis and flatback syndrome. He also is an expert in treating degenerative conditions of the spine, including disc herniations, spondylolisthesis and stenosis.

A graduate of the UCSF School of Medicine, Chou completed a neurosurgery residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md., and a fellowship in complex spinal surgery at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoeniz, Ariz. He is board certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery and has been elected by his peers as one of the "Best Doctors in America." Chou is a charter member of the Spinal Oncology Study Group, an international consortium of experts in the field of studying spinal tumors. He also has served as chairman and as a faculty member of spine surgery courses throughout the country.

Conditions & Treatments

Clinics

Neuro-Oncology Clinic
400 Parnassus Ave., Eighth Floor
San Francisco, CA 94143
Phone: (415) 353-2966
Fax: (415) 353-2167

Hours: Monday to Friday
8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Neurosurgery Clinic
400 Parnassus Ave., Eighth Floor
San Francisco, CA 94143
Phone: (415) 353-7500
Fax: (415) 353-2939

Hours: Monday to Friday
8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Spine Center
400 Parnassus Ave., Third Floor
San Francisco, CA 94143-0332
Phone: (866) 81-SPINE or Neuro-spine Fax: (415) 353-2339
Ortho-spine Fax: (415) 353-4047

Hours: Monday to Friday
8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

More about Dean Chou

Education

UCSF School of Medicine 1996

Residencies

Johns Hopkins Hospital, Neurosurgery 2003

Fellowships

Barrow Neurological Institute, Spine Surgery 2004

Selected Research and Publications

  1. Chou D, Samartzis D, Bellabarba C, Patel A, Luk KD, Kisser JM, Skelly AC. Degenerative magnetic resonance imaging changes in patients with chronic low back pain: a systematic review. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2011 Oct 1; 36(21 Suppl):S43-53.
  2. Fourney DR, Frangou EM, Ryken TC, Dipaola CP, Shaffrey CI, Berven SH, Bilsky MH, Harrop JS, Fehlings MG, Boriani S, Chou D, Schmidt MH, Polly DW, Biagini R, Burch S, Dekutoski MB, Ganju A, Gerszten PC, Gokaslan ZL, Groff MW, Liebsch NJ, Mendel E, Okuno SH, Patel S, Rhines LD, Rose PS, Sciubba DM, Sundaresan N, Tomita K, Varga PP, Vialle LR, Vrionis FD, Yamada Y, Fisher CG. Spinal instability neoplastic score: an analysis of reliability and validity from the spine oncology study group. J Clin Oncol. 2011 Aug 1; 29(22):3072-7.
  3. Acosta FL, Sanai N, Cloyd J, Deviren V, Chou D, Ames CP. Treatment of Enneking stage 3 aggressive vertebral hemangiomas with intralesional spondylectomy: report of 10 cases and review of the literature. J Spinal Disord Tech. 2011 Jun; 24(4):268-75.
  4. Han SJ, Lau D, Lu DC, Theodore P, Chou D. Anterior thoracolumbar corpectomies: approach morbidity with and without an access surgeon. Neurosurgery. 2011 May; 68(5):1220-5; discussion 1225-6.
  5. Lu DC, Chou D, Mummaneni PV. A comparison of mini-open and open approaches for resection of thoracolumbar intradural spinal tumors. J Neurosurg Spine. 2011 Jun; 14(6):758-64.
  6. Waldron JS, Oh MC, Chou D. Lumbar subdural hematoma from intracranial subarachnoid hemorrhage presenting with bilateral foot drop: case report. Neurosurgery. 2011 Mar; 68(3):E835-9; discussion E839.
  7. Lau D, Lee JG, Han SJ, Lu DC, Chou D. Complications and perioperative factors associated with learning the technique of minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF). J Clin Neurosci. 2011 May; 18(5):624-7.
  8. Hofstetter CP, Chou D, Newman CB, Aryan HE, Girardi FP, Härtl R. Posterior approach for thoracolumbar corpectomies with expandable cage placement and circumferential arthrodesis: a multicenter case series of 67 patients. J Neurosurg Spine. 2011 Mar; 14(3):388-97.
  9. Chou D, Lu DC. Mini-open transpedicular corpectomies with expandable cage reconstruction. Technical note. J Neurosurg Spine. 2011 Jan; 14(1):71-7.
  10. Wang VY, Chou D, Chin C. Spine and spinal cord emergencies: vascular and infectious causes. Neuroimaging Clin N Am. 2010 Nov; 20(4):639-50.
  11. Fisher CG, DiPaola CP, Ryken TC, Bilsky MH, Shaffrey CI, Berven SH, Harrop JS, Fehlings MG, Boriani S, Chou D, Schmidt MH, Polly DW, Biagini R, Burch S, Dekutoski MB, Ganju A, Gerszten PC, Gokaslan ZL, Groff MW, Liebsch NJ, Mendel E, Okuno SH, Patel S, Rhines LD, Rose PS, Sciubba DM, Sundaresan N, Tomita K, Varga PP, Vialle LR, Vrionis FD, Yamada Y, Fourney DR. A novel classification system for spinal instability in neoplastic disease: an evidence-based approach and expert consensus from the Spine Oncology Study Group. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2010 Oct 15; 35(22):E1221-9.
  12. Lau D, Han SJ, Lee JG, Lu DC, Chou D. Minimally invasive compared to open microdiscectomy for lumbar disc herniation. J Clin Neurosci. 2011 Jan; 18(1):81-4.
  13. Clark AJ, Lu DC, Richardson RM, Tihan T, Parsa AT, Chou D, Barbaro NM, Kunwar S, Weinstein PR, Lawton MT, Berger MS, McDermott MW. Surgical technique of temporary arterial occlusion in the operative management of spinal hemangioblastomas. World Neurosurg. 2010 Jul; 74(1):200-5.
  14. Lu DC, Lau D, Lee JG, Chou D. The transpedicular approach compared with the anterior approach: an analysis of 80 thoracolumbar corpectomies. J Neurosurg Spine. 2010 Jun; 12(6):583-91.
  15. Mummaneni PV, Lu DC, Dhall SS, Mummaneni VP, Chou D. C1 lateral mass fixation: a comparison of constructs. Neurosurgery. 2010 Mar; 66(3 Suppl):153-60.
  16. Wang VY, Chin CT, Lu DC, Smith JS, Chou D. Free-hand thoracic pedicle screws placed by neurosurgery residents: a CT analysis. Eur Spine J. 2010 May; 19(5):821-7.
  17. Chou D, Wang VY, Storm PB. Pedicle subtraction osteotomies for the correction of post-traumatic thoracolumbar kyphosis. J Clin Neurosci. 2010 Jan; 17(1):113-7.
  18. Polly DW, Chou D, Sembrano JN, Ledonio CG, Tomita K. An analysis of decision making and treatment in thoracolumbar metastases. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2009 Oct 15; 34(22 Suppl):S118-27.
  19. Cloyd JM, Chou D, Deviren V, Ames CP. En bloc resection of primary tumors of the cervical spine: report of two cases and systematic review of the literature. Spine J. 2009 Nov; 9(11):928-35.
  20. Chou D, Eltgroth M, Yang I, Lu D, Manley G. Rib head disarticulation for multilevel transpedicular thoracic corpectomies and expandable cage reconstruction. Neurol India. 2009 Jul-Aug; 57(4):469-74.

Publications are derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and provided by UCSF Profiles, a service of the Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI) at UCSF. Researchers can make corrections and additions by logging on to UCSF Profiles.

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