Franziska C.S. Altorfer
Dr. Franziska C. S. Altorfer is currently a Consultant i.V. at Balgrist University Hospital. She was previously a Research Fellow in Spine Surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, from where she returned to Balgrist University Hospital. Her professional career has also taken her to the Department of Trauma Surgery at Hanover Medical School and to the Department of Neurosurgery at Lucerne Cantonal Hospital.
Dr…
Dr. Franziska C. S. Altorfer is currently a Consultant i.V. at Balgrist University Hospital. She was previously a Research Fellow in Spine Surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, from where she returned to Balgrist University Hospital. Her professional career has also taken her to the Department of Trauma Surgery at Hanover Medical School and to the Department of Neurosurgery at Lucerne Cantonal Hospital.
Dr. Altorfer completed her studies in human medicine at the University of Zurich, where she graduated in 2018 and obtained her doctorate in 2022 under the supervision of Prof. Mazda Farshad. She began her scientific career as a research assistant in neuroradiology at the University Hospital Zurich. She also gained international expertise during her studies at Harvard University in 2015.
Graduate
| 2023–2024 | Research Fellow in Spine Surgery, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, USA (Head: Prof. Dr. med. Darren R. Lebl) |
| 2022–2023 | Orthopaedic Resident, Balgrist University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland (Head: Prof. Dr. med. Mazda Farshad, MPH) |
| 2021–2022 | Trauma Surgery Resident, Hannover Medical School, Germany (Head: Prof. Dr. med. Christian Krettek and Prof. Stephan Sehmisch) |
| 2020–2021 | Orthopaedic resident, Balgrist University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland (Head: Prof. Dr. med. Mazda Farshad, MPH) |
| 2019–2020 | Neurosurgery Resident, Cantonal Hospital Lucerne, Switzerland (Head: PD Dr. med. Karl Kothbauer) |
Studies
| 2012–2018 | Study of human medicine, University of Zurich |
Member of the Board
Co-founder of the AO Spine Youth Club.
Publications
Altorfer, Franziska CS; Burkhard, Marco D; Kelly, Michael J; Avrumova, Fedan; Sneag, Darryl B; Chazen, J Levi; Tan, Ek T; Lebl, Darren R - "Robot-Assisted Lumbar Pedicle Screw Placement Based on 3D Magnetic Resonance Imaging" in Global Spine Journal (2024).
Altorfer, Franziska CS; Sutter, Reto; Farshad, Mazda; Spirig, José M; Farshad-Amacker, Nadja A - "MRI appearance of adjunct surgical material used in spine surgery" in The Spine Journal (2022).
Altorfer, Franziska CS; Kelly, Michael J; Avrumova, Fedan; Burkhard, Marco D; Zhu, Jiaqi; Abel, Frederik; Cammisa, Frank P; Sama, Andrew; Farshad, Mazda; Lebl, Darren R - "Pedicle Screw Placement with Augmented Reality Versus Robotic-Assisted Surgery" in Spine (2024).
Altorfer, Franziska CS; Kelly, Michael J; Avrumova, Fedan; Burkhard, Marco D; Sneag, Darryl B; Chazen, JL; Tan, Ek T; Lebl, Darren R - "Minimally invasive robotic-assisted lumbar laminectomy" in Bone & Joint Open (2024).
Altorfer, Franziska CS; Weng, Ashley; Sneag, Darryl B; Pavlakis, Pantelis P; Lebl, Darren R - "Guillain-Barré Syndrome Following Lumbar Spine Surgery: A Case Report Highlighting Early Magnetic Resonance Neurography Findings" in HSS Journal® (2024).
Altorfer, Franziska CS; Kelly, Michael J; Avrumova, Fedan; Burkhard, Marco D; Sneag, Darryl B; Campbell, Gracyn; Chazen, Joseph L; Tan, Ek T; Lebl, Darren R - "Robotic pedicle screw placement with 3D MRI registration: moving towards radiation-free robotic spine surgery" in The Spine Journal (2024).
Altorfer, Franziska CS; Avrumova, Fedan; Lebl, Darren R - "Robotic-Assisted Decompression, Decortication, and Instrumentation for Minimally Invasive Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion" in JBJS Essential Surgical Techniques (2024).
Foot and ankle surgery
PD Dr Stephan Wirth and his team specialize in diseases and injuries of the foot and ankle. These include sporting injuries and the complications that may follow. Thanks to intensive research work, surgical techniques at Balgrist University Hospital are constantly being developed, and their success reflected by the continuing improvement in results.