Ayman F. Alshayji

Neurosurgeon

400 university ave 3B north saint john New Brunswick, E2L 4L2 Show map

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About

Ayman Alshayji, MD, FRCSC, FAANS, maintains a position at Saint John Regional Hospital, an affiliate hospital within the Horizon Health Network located in Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John Regional Hospital is the largest tertiary care facility based out of New Brunswick, and is the primary healthcare referral center for major trauma and cardiac care. Board certified with a decade of experience in the neurosurgery field, Dr. Alshayji is highly active in his community. He is not only the Director of Skull Base and Vascular Neurosurgery at Saint John; but also an Assistant Professor at Dalhousie Medical School in New Brunswick, an international speaker, and an esteemed member to numerous medical associations including the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Board Certification

Canadian Board Certified in Neruosurgery

Provider Details

MaleEnglish 32 years of experience

Ayman F. Alshayji

Ayman F. Alshayji's Expert Contributions

My Answers

Explain spinal fusion?
This means you remove the disc between the end plates of two adjacent vertebrae, mostly done to remove a herniated disc impinging on the spinal cord or nerves, or to remove a bone spur causing the same compression. Once done, the motion on that segment and any other fused segment is lost, but only to those segments; typically, you lose 5-7% of flexion/extension thru these segments. The rest of the segments function normally, but now bear more of the physical stress caused by motion as the levels above and below the fusion immediately now undergo more strain and hence, theoretically, can undergo faster degenerative processes. This will not impact rotation of the neck, though. READ MORE
Is surgery necessary for herniated disk?
It depends on the size of the disc and on your symptoms and on whether you have any motor deficit with it or any Bowel or bladder symptoms, so if its large and or causing severe pain for more than 3 months and if u have deficits with it motor and or bowel and bladder then yes more than likely you will need surgery but if not then most likely you wont need surgery but it also depends on where you are in the current flare up cycle and whether you tried other non surgical methods eg physiotherapy and avoidance of exacerbating factors. READ MORE
Awake during brain surgery?
Yes it is true, and it's necessary in cases where the pathology for example a tumor is close to a critically important part of the brain responsible for speech or motor control area where we want to maximize the removal and minimize the harm done to the patient. As such, being awake allows us to map this area and gives us a positive feedback as to whether we are causing harm or not, so it's very useful and we use it all the time. READ MORE
Can a blood clot in the brain be removed by medicines alone?
This can sometimes be removed by an endovascular procedure done by an interventional radiologist, but it has to be in a favourable location and within a certain time frame. If not, then usually, blood thinners can only prevent the formation of new clots and the body's own scavenger cells remove this clot. READ MORE
Can venous aneurysm cause headache?
It depends on whether this aneurysm is causing any impedement to CSF flow at the aqueduct of Sylvius level and whether it's causing any hydrocephalus. If so, then yes, it can give you headaches; if not, then it's unlikely, but it seems big and the question is whether it's causing any hemodynamics changes causing veonous outflow obstruction or delay leading to venous congestion and headaches, but can't ascertain that without seeing the Anglo, but how is your blood pressure? Is it normal? And do you have any nasal congestion, e.g., due to allergies? All these simple possibilities may be overlooked. Anyhow, best ask your neurosurgeon if the aneurysm is causing any issues mentioned above. READ MORE
Can vertigo be treated?
This is better addressed to a neurologist. READ MORE
Can a back injury cause neurological defects?
It can, but it will affect your legs and possibly bowel or bladder issues. For it to affect your arms, too, the injury has to be higher up in the spine, that is, in your neck, but depending on the injury, if you have any sensory or motor symptoms, you should get your family doctor to check on this and possibly get an MRI of your spine to make sure you don't have a disc herniation, for example. READ MORE
What is a coma?
It’s a state of unconsciousness that may be temporary or prolonged usually caused by traumatic brain injury or stroke or tumor or septic meningitis or certain metabolic condions like hepatic encephalopathy or uremic enchalopathy, or severe brain hypoxemia in association with severe lung disorders, there could be other causes, but those are the most common, so the patient unable to respond to any external stimuli and not aware of their surroundings, but will have a functioning heart maintaining the circulation, but will need ventilatory support to maintain life. READ MORE
Is pituitary adenoma life-threatening?
Pituitary adenoma is seen in 25% of the population and the main concern with them is visual deficit or hormonal abnormalities, esp those related to cortisol or growth hormone producing tumors, but they can also have other hormonal abnormalities in the form of deficits that can be replaced by medications, however, some very aggressive prolactinomas may be very large and cause hydrocephalus which, if significant enough, may be life-threatening, but this is usually detected way earlier before it reaches this state. READ MORE
Can lower back pain lead to paralysis?
Depends on the cause, if it's a large disc, or tumor, or degenerative process and whether any spinal instability associated with this, so I really can't answer the question adequately without knowing the exact diagnosis and MRI and CT findings. READ MORE
I am having extreme fatigue and dizziness for the last one week. Could it be brain tumor?
This is so vague and it doesn’t mean a brain tumor, but if your headaches are outside of the garden variety headaches you get and if they are not decreasing in intensity and if you are sleepy and if you are getting other symptoms like weakness or imbalance or sensory changes, then you should go to the family doctor to look into this. READ MORE
My sister lost her vision due to an accident. Is it possible to get the vision back?
It all depends on the cause and what exactly happened to the optic nerves and pathway and how long ago this took place. So without more details, I can't answer this question properly. READ MORE
Can back pain cause headaches?
Usually, they are not associated. READ MORE
My baby's head size is big. Is it due to any abnormality?
He should be seen by a paediatric neurosurgeon. READ MORE
My brother is suffering slight speech loss after an operation. Will he recover?
This can certainly happen because of many reasons, one of which is swelling without any major disruption to the anatomical tracts responsible for speech, or it may be because of actual damage that can sometimes happen because of the surgery as you try to evacuate a hematoma or infarcted brain that is swollen, causing mass effect requiring removal, so how long it will take is really variable, but if it's swelling, then it should be within 2-4 weeks. But if it's damaging to the tracts, then it's a question of brain plasticity and how long these new circuits will take over. Generally, we tell patients you have 1 year from the date of surgery for recovery. After that, you reach your plateau, so with speech therapy and cognitive rehab, hopefully things will start to improve. READ MORE
Is there a cure for meningioma?
Well, this is certainly a large tumor and it depends on exactly where it is, R or L, and whether it's close to a functional area of the brain, i.e., your speech or motor area and so on, whether there is any swelling around it and whether it's causing mass effects or not, is causing any seizures or not or any weakness, so many things have to be considered, location, symptoms and signs, and your age and overall health and your own wishes as to what you want done if you're not symptomatic. So in short, can it pose health risks? Yes, it can, and the most worrisome is seizures for the first time if you are driving, cooking, swimming or on a ladder, all these situations are very concerning and could pose a serious risk to you. READ MORE
Is surgery required for a patient who has suffered from a stroke?
There are so many variables to consider in such cases, obviously the age, overall health state, and where the stroke is and how big, current clinical state of the patient and patient's own wish of how they want to be treated in such difficult situations, which can leave them in a very disabled state, but the classical indication for surgery is significant brain swelling threating the patient's life, in these cases, surgical decompression maybe recommend, but again all the previously mentioned factors will be considered also. READ MORE
I am due for back surgery. Should I be doing any preparations before the surgery?
Losing weight, stop smoking before the anesthesia, stop any blood thinners and anti-inflamatories at least 1 week in advance, but in certain cases, this has to be addressed in a different approach if you are at risk of blood clots or pulmonary embolism and whether you have a blood disorder increasing your risk of such situations, if not, then this is not an issue. Also, avoid heavy lifting and bending, twisting, and prolonged sitting and standing, that is very general since I don't know your exact diagnosis and what you are going for, but these are general guidelines. READ MORE
Can amniocentesis cause brain damage in a baby?
This question is better addressed to a pediatric neurosurgeon. READ MORE
Are all tumors cancerous?
Hello, thanks for your question. Not all tumors are cancerous, it depends on the imaging characteristics one can have an idea as to whether the tumor is aggressive or not, but the only way to know for sure is when a tissue sample is sent to pathology to know exactly its diagnosis, which is now not only histológical, but also molecular to have a better idea as to the long-term prognosis and response to therapy. READ MORE