Dr. Wilson Asfora, MD

Expert Publications

• A modified technique to treat subdural hematomas: the subdural evacuating port system.
• A modified technique to treat chronic and subacute subdural hematoma: technical note.
• A brief history of aneurysm clips.
• Deep brain stimulation for Dejerine-Roussy syndrome: case report.
• Case report: treatment of subdural hematoma in the emergency department utilizing the Subdural Evacuating Port System.
• Cerebellar venous angioma associated with angiographically occult brain stem vascular malformation. Report of two cases.
• Successful fusion of remote type II odontoid fracture using anterior screw fixation of the odontoid and rhBMP-2: report of two cases.
• Extreme multi-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion.
• Case report: treatment of subdural hematoma in the emergency department utilizing the subdural evacuating port system.
• 8-year-old patient with multiple large cerebral abscesses successfully treated with stereotactic aspiration: case report and literature review.
• The Asfora Bullet Cage System Shows Comparable Fusion Rate Success Versus Control Cage in Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion in a Randomized Clinical Trial.
• Is the syndrome of pathological laughing and crying a manifestation of pseudobulbar palsy?
• Transposition of target information from the magnetic resonance and computed tomography scan images to conventional X-ray stereotactic space.
• Angiography of encephalomyosynangiosis and superficial temporal artery to middle cerebral artery anastomosis in moyamoya disease.

Media Releases

Get to know Neurosurgeon Dr. Wilson Asfora, who serves patients in South Dakota, Florida, and Brazil.

A talented, highly trained neurosurgeon, Dr. Asfora specializes in brain tumors, pituitary tumors, orbital tumors, brain stem tumors, cerebrovascular surgery, peripheral nerve surgery, spine surgery, radiosurgery, and functional neurosurgery including deep brain stimulation for movement disorders.

Arriving in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 1991, he was an independent neurosurgeon until 2007, when he joined the staff at Sanford Neurosurgery and Spine Clinic until 2020. He has also practiced at the physician-owned Sioux Falls Specialty Hospital, and has served as a Clinical Professor of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery in the United States and Canada.

A native of Brazil, Dr. Asfora graduated with his medical degree from Federal University of Pernambuco in 1977. He then went on to perform his residency in general surgery at Matarazzo Hospital, and his residency in neurosurgery at the University of São Paulo. After relocating to the United States, he completed a straight surgical internship at Yale New Haven Hospital – Saint Raphael Campus, a residency in neurological surgery at the University of Ottawa & the University of Manitoba, a general neurosurgical fellowship at UCSF Medical Center, and a fellowship in radiosurgery at Harvard University.

The doctor is board-certified through the American Board of Neurological Surgery, whose broad aim is to encourage the study, improve the practice, elevate the standards and advance the science of neurological surgery and thereby serve the cause of public health.

In good standing with a number of professional organizations, he is a member of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the American College of Surgeons, the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada, and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. 

Throughout his line of work, Dr. Asfora has authored dozens of publications on issues related to neurosurgery, including contribution to a book chapter on Spine Biomechanics. In addition, he holds numerous patents and has developed numerous medical devices in use at hospitals around the world including: The Subdural Evacuating Port System (SEPS), The Dakota Knife, and The Odontoid Curved Drill Guide.

Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, surgical treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and extra-cranial cerebrovascular system. Neurosurgeons are doctors who diagnose and treat problems with the nervous system, often by performing surgery on the brain or spine. They treat strokes, tumors, certain types of birth defects, infections, and head or spinal cord injuries.

Over his nearly three decades in Sioux Falls, Dr. Asfora has owned a number of other businesses.

Having published numerous YouTube videos of his surgical technique and music compositions, he appears in a number of other videos which are not included in his YouTube channel. He has recorded a CD as a solo guitarist playing only original music with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra. 

Married with two children, Dr. Asfora speaks English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French. 

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