Dr. Paolo A. Bolognese, MD — Attraction in Town of North Hempstead

Like many people awaiting a CTD diagnosis or those who have a CTD diagnosis, I have been dealing with chronic neck pain for almost 2 decades. I've jumped through every hoop and done every type of therapy suggested by my providers, without success. It wasn't until recently I, finally, convinced two different providers for a referral for a Genetics eval to rule out EDS and an upright MRI. My upright MRI did not show craniocervical instability according to the local radiologist who read it. It was read as showing a cervical disc herniation and thoracic scoliosis, only. Thanks to the suggestions of many on the Inspire Forum, I contacted Dr. Bolognese for a Skype visit. He read my MRI, and determined I had CCI--something "normal" people without a CTD diagnosis don't have. I'm still in the process of a genetic workup, but my providers need to know that I do have something serious going on with my spine, and that my symptoms aren't due to sitting at a desk or "all in my head." Perhaps they'll start listening to me now? If it weren't for Dr. Bolognese, my providers would continue to tell me that a cervical disc herniation isn't a big deal, and I'm not 40 years old anymore. If you think there is a chance you meet criteria for a genetics eval to rule out a CTD, I highly recommend you fight for a referral. I also recommend an upright MRI to be read by Dr. Bolognese, as most radiologists "miss" CCI in their interpretation. He found, in one skype visit, what none of my providers had in almost 20 years. Thank you,...

i am only an online consult patient so far, but after eight EDS/Chiari related surgeries with my local neurosurgeon, I think that having an online consult with Dr. Bolognese was probably the best move I've made thus far.

Dr. Bolognese reviewed several years of MRIs before my appointment. During my online appointment, he talked openly about all of the problems that were EDS related and not the fault of my local surgeon. He shared all that he thought that my local surgeon did right, all that my local surgeon plans to do that he could probably handle, what I should watch for in the near future, as well as things that might be beyond my local neurosurgeon. I cannot tell you how happy I was that he didn't just set out to bash my neurosurgeon and have me fly to NY. That said a lot about his character.

He encouraged my family to participate in the meeting with me and spent time answering all of our questions. He was encouraging and really gave me peace of mind for the first time since my Chiari diagnosis. I personally recommend at least an online consult with him, especially for anyone with a Complex Chiari or EDS/Chiari, even if your local neurosurgeon says it's no big...

I’ve had permanent damage to my neck ever since doing his traction test. Can’t sleep on my side anymore and all daily activities cause me headaches now. If I didn’t have Cci before the test, I DEFINITELY got it afterwards. I did the traction with a physiotherapist in the most conservative way possible and still got severe neck damage.

Also, I had tethered cord confirmed by 4 other doctors and got the surgery last year from Dr. Gilete. Dr. Bolognese didn’t even bother to respond to me after I sent my imaging in for evaluation-he was the first doc I got to assess cci/otc. I finally got a response months after emailing him directly that just said, “you didn’t meet our criteria. If you feel differently, get another opinion”.

I regret ever contacting his office. Giant waste of time and money paying for the images because none of the other cci/otc docs used those images in...