SURGICAL TEAM TAKES EXPERTISE TO POOR NATIONS.

Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer

As the mother of a 14-year-old who survived major surgery to remove a tumor from her brain stem, Susan Milliken-Gill knows plenty about the devastation brain diseases can cause.

Six years ago, Milliken-Gill's daughter, Amber, underwent surgery at Mattel Children's Hospital at the University of California, Los Angeles. The surgery saved Amber and allowed her to lead a healthy, normal life.

``She is an amazing human being. She is beautiful. She rides and jumps horses. She is athletic. She is very intelligent,'' said Milliken-Gill. ``I realized every day with her is a gift.''

Milliken-Gill also realized that children in developing countries are not as lucky because they don't get the medical treatment they need.

``In other countries, children like her will not even be seen, they will die,'' she said.

So when UCLA neurosurgeon Jorge A. Lazareff, who operated on her daughter and recently separated a pair of conjoined Guatemalan twins, asked if she would help children in other countries, Milliken-Gill agreed.

Together they and other doctors have created Global Neuro Rescue. The nonprofit group sends medical professionals to developing nations to train local physicians to treat children born with central nervous system diseases.

Lazareff leaves for northern China today to perform surgery on seven children who suffer from spina bifida and hydrocephalus - the accumulation of fluid in the brain.

Some patients with untreated spina bifida have spines that protrude. Surgery must be performed to repair the defect cosmetically and halt neurological damage.

``There a strong stigma associated with diseases of the brain,'' said Lazareff. ``People immediately believe if you have a disease of the brain, you are doomed. You have no hope.

``What we are trying to show is you are not doomed, you do have hope.''

According to Lazareff, 15 percent of the diseases in developing nations are diseases of the brain, and 60 percent of those with epilepsy live in developing nations, and yet 90 percent are poorly treated by both doctors and society.

Since 1991, Lazareff has traveled to several countries, including Mexico and Romania, to share his expertise. He goes on four to six such missions a year, along with residents and doctors from UCLA.

``Developing nations have physicians who are capable of doing complex procedures, they just need some form of empowering,'' said Lazareff. ``We actually share with them the knowledge we have and answer their questions of how they can accomplish the procedures with the technology available to them.''

Milliken-Gill, who works in the entertainment industry, does her part by raising money through her Hollywood connections.

``Each of those surgeries is the life of a child,'' she said. ``Those children would not live. They would not be treated. They are considered a nonentity in their society, but Dr. Lazareff looks at them as the next Mozart, Einstein, the next mother of someone, or husband or wife of someone.

``That's what makes him so special.''

Helen Gao, [phone]

helen.gao(at)dailynews.com

--For more information about Global Neuro Rescue, visit www.globalneurorescue.com.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Dr. Jorge Lazareff led the operation to separate conjoined Guatamalan twins at UCLA. On behalf of Global Neuro Rescue, he will soon leave to treat seven children in China.

(2) Susan Milliken-Gill, right, whose daughter, Amber, was saved by Dr. Jorge Lazareff, raises money for Global Neuro Rescue through her entertainment industry connections.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer