Mena G. Kerolus, M.D.
Neurosurgeon
Mena G. Kerolus, M.D. is a neurosurgeon with dual fellowship training in both neurological and orthopedic spine surgery. Dr. Kerolus is excited to join Atlanta Brain and Spine Care and Piedmont Hospital in providing specialized care for adults and children with scoliosis and spinal deformities. Dr. Kerolus’ passion is to help all patients with spinal conditions return to enjoying life as safely as possible.
Dr. Kerolus completed his neurosurgical training at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago where he focused on the treatment of cranial pathologies such as trigeminal neuralgia, brain and spinal cord tumors and minimally invasive spine surgery. He then completed the prestigious Adult and Pediatric Comprehensive Orthopedic Spine Fellowship at Columbia University/New York-Presbyterian with a focus on spinal deformity and scoliosis surgery. Having been trained in both neurosurgery and orthopedic spine surgery, Dr. Kerolus is able to individualize surgical treatment options for his patients.
Dr. Kerolus’ clinical focus includes the surgical treatment of patients with lumbar stenosis and spondylolisthesis, adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), cervical and thoracolumbar spinal deformities including adult idiopathic scoliosis, kyphosis, flat-back syndrome, chin-on-chest deformity, and patients who have a spinal deformity following prior spinal surgery. He also treats patients with cervical spine disease including cervical stenosis, disc herniation’s, ossified posterior longitudinal ligament and myelopathy. Dr. Kerolus has additional expertise in cervical motion preservation surgery including cervical disc arthroplasty.
Dr. Kerolus is committed to research and improving patient care. His research interests include minimally invasive spine techniques, robotic spine surgery and optimizing the postoperative recovery for spine patients in order to provide the best outcomes. He has published more than 45 peer-reviewed articles in national and international journals including the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, Neurosurgery, European Spine Journal, Spine Deformity and Spine. He has authored or presented over 50 textbook chapters and abstracts. He has presented at multiple national meetings and recently honored with the Kuntz Award in 2020 for his research on Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) Pathway for Single-Level Minimally Invasive Transformainal Lumbar Interbody Fusion Decreases Length of Stay and Opioid Consumption.
He is a member of many neurosurgical organizations including the American Association of Neurologic Surgeons, Congress of Neurologic Surgeons, Joint Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves, Georgia Neurosurgical Society and North American Spine Society where he was recently elected to severe on the National Coding Committee and Young Surgeon Committee.
Dr. Kerolus’ personal interests include swimming, tennis, hiking and traveling. He enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter.
HONORS & AWARDS
North American Spine Society Coding Committee, 2022
Kuntz Scholar Award Winner, 2020
St. Louis Friends of UMKC School of Medicine Award for Research , 2013
SPECIALTIES
- Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS)
- Adult Degenerative Scoliosis
- Adult Revision Spine Surgery
- Flat Back Syndrome
- Chin-on-Chest Deformity
- Kyphosis
- Scheuermann’s kyphosis
- Spine and Spinal Cord Tumors
- Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
- Spinal stenosis
- Spinal spondylolisthesis
- Spinal disc herniations
- Spinal synovial cyst
- Cervical fusion
- Cervical disc replacement
- Lumbar disc replacement
EDUCATION
2007-2013 University of Missouri – Kansas City – 6 Year BA/MD
2013-2020 Rush University Medical Center, Department of Neurosurgery – Residency
2020-2021 Columbia University/Weill Cornell/New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Department of Orthopedics and Department of Neurosurgery – Spine Fellowship