Newswise — November 4, 2013 – Neptune, NJ – On Friday, November 8, 2013, The Center for Treatment of Paralysis and Reconstructive Nerve Surgery at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, NJ will host Switzerland’s Andres Gohritz, M.D. and Veith Moser, M.D. of Vienna, Austria to observe several techniques in phrenic nerve and nerve decompression surgery. Drs. Gohritz and Moser will be present during a diaphragm pacemaker implant procedure on a young child. The pediatric patient suffered a spinal cord injury during a motor vehicle accident in 2009 and was left ventilator dependent.

Specialists at the Center are among a few select surgeons in the country that perform the procedure to implant a diaphragm pacemaker, allowing some patients with spinal cord injury to breathe independently, without the need for long term ventilator support. Matthew Kaufman, M.D., who specializes in treatments for swallowing disorders after stroke, diaphragm paralysis, and spinal cord injuries, will perform this unique procedure. The visiting doctors will observe this procedure and other surgeries performed by the Center’s nerve specialists: Michael Rose, M.D., Andrew Elkwood, M.D., Matthew Kaufman, M.D., Tushar R. Patel, M.D., and Russell Ashinoff, M.D.

The Center for Treatment of Paralysis & Reconstructive Nerve Surgery at Jersey Shore University Medical Center provides some of the most advanced surgical treatment of paralysis and nerve injuries in the world today.

About Drs. Gohritz and Moser:Andres Gohritz, M.D., is a reconstructive hand surgeon at University Hospital in Basel and the Swiss Paraplegic Center in Nottwil - Europe’s leading center for paraplegia, spinal cord injuries and diseases. Dr. Gohritz’s main clinical interests are peripheral nerve surgery and functional restoration in paraplegia, nerve paralysis, and spasticity.

Veith Moser, M.D., is the chief consultant for plastic, hand and reconstructive surgery and an active professor at the University Hospital in Zurich. He also is a consultant for plastic and nerve surgery at the Vienna Trauma Hospital in Austria. About Jersey Shore University Medical Center:Jersey Shore University Medical Center, a member of the Meridian Health family, is a not-for-profit teaching hospital and home to K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital – the first children’s hospital in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Jersey Shore is the regional provider of cardiac surgery, a program which has been ranked among the best in the Northeast, and is home to the only trauma center and stroke rescue center in the region. Jersey Shore specializes in cardiovascular care, orthopedics and rehabilitation, cancer care, neuroscience, nerve surgery and women’s specialty services. Through the hospital’s clinical research program, and its affiliation with Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Jersey Shore serves as an academic center dedicated to advancing medical knowledge, training future physicians and providing the community with access to promising medical breakthroughs. For more information about Jersey Shore University Medical Center call 1-800-DOCTORS, or visit www.JerseyShoreUniversityMedicalCenter.com.