Dean Chou MD
Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery
Associate Director of Spinal Tumor Surgery
Member, UCSF Spine Center
Dr. Chou completed his residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and then undertook a fellowship in complex spinal surgery at the Barrow Neurological Institute. 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.
Dr. Chou specializes in minimally invasive spinal surgery. He treats spinal tumors, spinal deformities (scoliosis, kyphosis, flatback syndrome), and degenerative conditions of the spine, including disc herniations, spondylolisthesis, and stenosis.
He is an expert in the treatment of spinal tumors, both metastatic and primary. He sits as a charter member of the Spinal Oncology Study Group, an international consortium of experts in the field of studying spinal tumors, and he specializes in en bloc surgery and sacral resections for primary tumors, such as chordoma. He has also served as chairman of spine surgery courses, and he also has taught at numerous courses throughout the country.
Download the UCSF Neurospinal Disorders Program brochure (PDF)
Education, Training, and Previous Positions
- 1991: AB, University of California, Berkeley
1996: MD, University of California, San Francisco
1996-1997: Intern, Department of General Surgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital
1997-2002: Resident, Department of Neurosurgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital
2002-2003: Assistant Chief of Service, Department of Neurosurgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital
2003-2004: Spine Fellow, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ
Selected Professional Memberships and Appointments
- American Association of Neurological Surgeons
Congress of Neurological Surgeons
AANS/CNS Section on Disorders of Spine and Peripheral Nerves
North American Spine Society (NASS)
Selected Honors & Awards
- 1990: UC Berkeley Honor Students Society
1990: American Heart Association Research Fellowship
1993: American Federation for Clinical Research Award for Excellence in Research
1994: Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Training Fellowship
1995: Lucien J. Rubinstein Award for Best Paper in Neuro-Oncology
American Association of Neuropathologists Annual Meeting
2000: AANS Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation (NREF) Grant
2007: Who's Who in American Teachers and Educators
2007: Who's Who in Science and Engineering
2007: Harold Rosegay Neurosurgery Resident Teaching Award
2009: Best Doctors in America
Selected Recent Publications
Chou D, Wang VY, Storm PB. Pedicle subtraction osteotomies for the correction of post-traumatic thoracolumbar kyphosis [published online ahead of print November 10, 2009]. J Clin Neurosci. doi:10.1016/j.jocn.2009.03.038
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;57(4):469-74.
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;9(11):928-35.
Chou D, Wang VY, Gupta N. Transpedicular corpectomy with posterior expandable cage placement for L1 burst fracture. J Clin Neurosci. 2009;16(8):1069-72.
Chou D, Acosta F, Cloyd JM, Ames CP. Parasagittal osteotomy for en bloc resection of multilevel cervical chordomas. J Neurosurg Spine 2009;10(5):397-403.
Chou D, Wang VY, Khan AS. Primary dural repair during minimally invasive microdiscectomy using standard operating room instruments. Neurosurgery. 2009 May;64(5 Suppl 2):356-8; discussion 358-9.
Hayden MG, Gephart R, Kalanithi P, Chou D. Von Hippel-Lindau disease in pregnancy: A brief review. J Clin Neurosci 2009;16(5):611-3.
Chou D, Wang V. Two-level en bloc spondylectomy for osteosarcoma at the cervicothoracic junction. J Clin Neurosci 2009;16(5):698-700.
Wang V, Chou D. Anterior C1-2 osteochondroma presenting with dysphagia and sleep apnea. J Clin Neurosci 2009;16(4):581-2.
Lu DC, Wang V, Chou D. The use of allograft or autograft and expandable titanium cages for the treatment of vertebral osteomyelitis. Neurosurgery 2009;64(1):122-30.
Chou D, Wang VY. Trap-door rib-head osteotomies for posterior placement of expandable cages after transpedicular corpectomy: an alternative to lateral extracavitary and costotransversectomy approaches. J Neurosurg Spine 2009;10(1):40-5.
Sahgal A, Ames C, Chou D, Ma L, Huang K, Xu W, Chin C, Weinberg V, Chuang C, Weinstein P, Larson DA. Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy Is Effective Salvage Therapy for Patients with Prior Radiation of Spinal Metastases. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2008; [published online ahead of print].
Samdani A, Torre-Healy A, Chou D, Cahill AM, Storm PB. Treatment of osteoblastoma at C7: a multidisciplinary approach. A case report and review of the literature. Eur Spine J 2008; [published online ahead of print]. doi: 10.1007/s00586-008-0806-7
Chou D, Lu D, Chi J, Wang V. Rib-head osteotomies for posterior placement of expandable cages in the treatment of metastatic thoracic spine tumors. J Clin Neurosci 2008;15(9):1043-7.
Chou D, Lu DC, Weinstein P, Ames CP. Adjacent-level vertebral body fractures after expandable cage reconstruction. J Neurosurg Spine 2008;8(6):584-8.
Lu DC, Theodore P, Korn WM, Chou D. Esophageal erosion 9 years after anterior cervical plate implantation. Surg Neurol 2008;69(3):310-3.
Chi JH, Acosta FL Jr, Aryan HE, Chou D, Ames CP. Partial spondylectomy: Modification for lateralized malignant spinal column tumors of the cervical or lumbosacral spine. J Clin Neurosci 2008;15(1):43-8.
Acosta FL Jr, Sanai N, Chi JH, Dowd CF, Chin C, Tihan T, Chou D, Weinstein PR, Ames CP. Comprehensive Management of Symptomatic and Aggressive Vertebral Hemangiomas. Neurosurg Clin N Am 2008;19(1):17-29.
Wang VY, Potts M, Chou D. Sarcoma and the Spinal Column. Neurosurg Clin N Am 2008;19(1):71-80.
Sahgal A, Chou D, Ames C, Ma L, Lamborn K, Huang K, Chuang C, Aiken A, Petti P, Weinstein P, Larson D. Image-guided robotic stereotactic body radiotherapy for benign spinal tumors: the university of california san francisco preliminary experience. Technol Cancer Res Treat 2007;6(6):595-604.
Wang VY, Chou D. The Cervicothoracic Junction. Neurosurg Clin N Am 2007;18(2):365-371.
Lu DC, Chou D. Flatback Syndrome. Neurosurg Clin N Am 2007;18(2):289-294.
Acosta FL Jr, Ames CP, Chou D. Operative Management of Adult High-Grade Lumbosacral Spondylolisthesis. Neurosurg Clin N Am 2007;18(2):249-254.
Chou D, Smith JS, Chin CT. Spontaneous regression of a discal cyst. Case report. J Neurosurg Spine 2007;6(1):81-4.
Hartl R, Chamberlain RH, Fifield MS, Chou D, Sonntag VK, Crawford NR. Biomechanical comparison of two new atlantoaxial fixation techniques with C1-2 transarticular screw-graft fixation. J Neurosurg Spine 2006;5(4):336-42.
Josephson SA, Pillai DR, Phillips JJ, Chou D. Neurolisteriosis presenting as cervical myelitis in an immunocompetent patient. Neurology 2006;66(7):1122-3.
Chou D, Hartl R, Sonntag VK. Conus medullaris syndrome without lower-extremity involvement in L-1 burst fractures: report of four cases. J Neurosurg Spine 2006;4(3):265-9.
Chou D, Larios AE, Chamberlain RH, Fifield MS, Hartl R, Dickman CA, Sonntag VK, Crawford NR. A biomechanical comparison of three anterior thoracolumbar implants after corpectomy: are two screws better than one? J Neurosurg Spine 2006;4(3):213-8.
Chi JH, Manley GT, and Chou D. Pregnancy-related vertebral hemangioma: case report, review of the literature, and management algorithm. Neurosurg Focus [serial on the Internet] 2005 [cited 2005 Sep 22];19(3):[7 p.]. Available from: http://www.aans.org/education/journal/neurosurgical/Sep05/19-3-7.pdf.
Acosta FL, Jr, Chin CT, Quinones-Hinojosa A, Ames CP, Weinstein PR, Chou D. Diagnosis and management of adult pyogenic osteomyelitis of the cervical spine. Neurosurg Focus [serial on the Internet] 2004 [cited 2004 Dec 5];17:[9 p.]. Available from: http://www.aans.org/education/journal/neurosurgical/dec04/17-6-2.pdf.
Chou D, Storm PB, Campbell JN. Vulnerability of the subcostal nerve to injury from bone graft harvesting from the iliac crest. J Neurosurg (Spine 1) 2004;1:87-89.
Storm PB, Chou D, Tamargo RJ. Lumbar spinal stenosis, cauda equina syndrome, and multiple lumbosacral radiculopathies. Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am 2002;13:713-33, ix.
Storm PB, Chou D, Tamargo RJ. Surgical management of cervical and lumbosacral radiculopathies: indications and outcomes. Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am 2002;13:735-59.
Conway JE, Chou D, Clatterbuck RE, Brem H, Long DM, Rigamonti D. Hemangioblastomas of the central nervous system in von Hippel-Lindau syndrome and sporadic disease. Neurosurgery 2001;48:55-62; discussion 62-3.