Dr. Cavalcanti graduated Cum Laude from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro medical school, Brazil, which is an institution with more than 210 years. After his neurosurgical training in Rio de Janeiro, Dr. Cavalcanti spent more than two years in neurosurgical research at the skull base lab at the world-renown Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, under the direct supervision of the legendary cerebrovascular neurosurgeon Dr. Robert Spetzler (2008-2010). This period was critical in Dr. Cavalcanti’s career, once he could repeatedly practice every complex cranial approach in cadavers, providing him with the finest skills needed when managing patients with complex pathologies of the central nervous system.
From 2010 to 2011, Dr. Cavalcanti completed a complex skull base fellowship with Dr. Luis Borba, one of the world leaders in the field, at the Evangelic University Hospital in Curitiba, Brazil.
With intense training on cerebral bypass, including at the University of Zurich in Switzerland on 2013, Dr. Cavalcanti became one of a handful number of neurosurgeons performing cerebral revascularization in Brazil. This way, he could treat several patients with Moyamoya disease and other forms of cerebrovascular insufficiency, and those with complex aneurysms.
In 2013, Dr. Cavalcanti was appointed Director of cerebrovascular surgery in a brand new reference center in Rio de Janeiro, the so-called Paulo Niemeyer State Brain Institute, a world-class hospital entirely devoted to neurosurgery, where he practiced for five years. It is currently the second busiest department in the country, considering cranial neurosurgery. One of his responsibilities was to coordinate and teach their 15 residents. Teaching neurosurgical skills to residents with different backgrounds in daily-basis is also a legitim way to improve your own skills. There, he personally brought a new minimally invasive craniotomy (skull opening) to their daily practice, pioneering the use of minicraniotomies at that large state. There he treated all aspects of cerebrovascular disease including aneurysms, vascular malformations, Moyamoya disease, and intracranial atherosclerosis including bypass surgery. He also treated all aspects of brain tumor and skullbase surgery (meningiomas, schwannomas) as well as gliomas and brain metastases.
Dr. Cavalcanti obtained a PhD degree in the University of Sao Paulo (USP) in 2018, the most respected Brazilian university. His thesis versed about the detailed anatomy and quantitative analysis of the main approaches and safer ways to operate on pathologies in the human brainstem.
In addition to his clinical experience and research on open vascular neurosurgery, Dr. Cavalcanti recently completed two additional fellowships, endovascular neurosurgery at the Barrow Neurological Institute and his most recent experience, a neurointerventional radiology fellowship at the New York University. This way, here at the Ayer Neuroscience Institute, Dr. Cavalcanti offers a thorough opinion and care to his patients, including cutting-edge treatment for patients with stroke. Collaborating with our neurologists, neuroradiologists and rehabilitation team, we strive to offer comprehensive and personalized care at the same time.
Dr. Cavalcanti has then developed international acclaim in field of cerebrovascular surgery, especially on the topic of aneurysms and cavernous malformations. He has treated more than 500 patients with intracranial aneurysms. He is considered a reference in the management of cavernous malformations, especially those located in deep locations as the brainstem, having published a vast material on the topic, enlightening the way of residents and younger neurosurgeons internationally. Dr. Cavalcanti is also active in research, and both wrote and collaborated in more than 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers, presenting abstracts and posters at the main neurosurgical meetings in the US and internationally, as the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) meetings.
Dr. Cavalcanti’s philosophy throughout his training and career was to excel at these difficult surgeries, then offering the best available care to his patients. Learning and practicing under the shoulder of the giants of the field during all his fellowships allowed him to now own the craftsmanship of doing this unique specialty in its totality and with passion.