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Ryan P. Morton, MDMedical Director of Stroke, Christus Health

Ryan P. Morton, MD - Profile Photo

Ryan P. Morton, MDMedical Director of Stroke, Christus Health

Dr. Ryan P. Morton is a neurosurgeon and educator with a distinguished academic and professional background. He earned his MD from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, where he graduated as valedictorian and summa cum laude. He also holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Notre Dame, earned in 2005.

Dr. Morton completed his neurosurgical residency and advanced fellowship training in cerebrovascular and endovascular surgery at the University of Washington, where he served as Chief Resident. His clinical expertise includes the treatment of complex brain and spine conditions, including aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, tumors, spinal disorders, and stroke. He is known for utilizing cutting-edge, minimally invasive techniques that prioritize patient safety, quicker recovery times, and optimal outcomes.

Through both his military service and civilian practice, Dr. Morton has developed a reputation for compassionate care, surgical precision, and a patient-centered approach that places education, communication, and trust at the forefront of treatment.

Dr. Ryan Morton brings his passion for innovation and patient outcomes to Texas Neuro Spine.

Education & Certification
  • Medical Education:
    Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
  • Fellowship:
    University of Washington Medical Center
  • Residency:
    University of Washington Medical Center
  • Certification:
    American Board of Neurological Surgery
Awards, Honors, & Recognition

University of Washington Neurological Surgical Residency

  • Synthes Award for Outstanding Cerebrovascular Abstract
    Congress of Neurological Surgeons 2012
  • DePuy Synthes Resident Craniofacial Award
    American Academy of Neurological Surgeons 2016
  • Courage To Lead Award
    presented for Outstanding resident leadership 2012, 2013
  • Department Representative to the House Officers Union 2014
    2016

Loyola University Chicago- Stritch School of Medicine:

  • Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society 2008-09
  • Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit Honor Society 2008
  • Gunnar research Grant ($1,500)
  • STAR grant award ($1,500) 2008
  • Best Performance in Surgery Clerkship 2008-09
  • Best Performance during the First Year Curriculum 2006
  • 4 Year Full-Tuition Army Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) 2005-09

University of Notre Dame:

  • Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre-Medical Honor Society 2004
  • Army Notre Dame ROTC Cadet of the year
Affiliations
  • Member, Congress of Neurological Surgeons
  • Member, American Association of Neurological Surgeons
  • Member, CV section AANS/CNS
Publications
  • Morton RP, Abecassis IJ, Hanson JF, Barber J, Nerva JD, Emerson SN, Ene CI, Chowdhary MM, Levitt MR, Ko AL, DellitTH, Chesnut RM. Timing of Cranioplasty: A 10 Year Single Center Analysis of 754 patients. Journal of Neurosurgery Ahead of Print 2017
  • Morton RP, Abecassis IJ, Moore AE, Kim LJ, Sekhar LN The Use of Ultrasound for Postoperative Monitoring of Cerebral Bypass Grafts: A Technical Report. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience 2017, Ahead of Print 2017
  • Morton RP, Abecassis IJ, Hanson JF, Barber J, Nerva JD, Emerson SN, Ene CI, Chowdhary MM, Levitt MR, Ko AL, DellitTH, Chesnut RM. Predictors of infection after 754 cranioplasty operations and the value of intraoperative cultures for cryopreserved bone flaps. Journal of neurosurgery 125 (3), 766-770
  • Morton RP, Ellenbogen RG. Commentary: Severe Pediatric Head Injury During the Iraq and Afghanistan Conflicts. Neurosurgery 77(1), July 2015, p 8. DOI: 0.1227/NEU.0000000000000758
  • Morton RP, Levitt MR, Emerson SN, Ghodke BV, Hallam DK, Sekhar LN, Kim LJ, Chesnut. RM Natural History and Management of Blunt Traumatic Pseudoaneurysms of the Internal Carotid Artery. Annals of Surgery 2015. DOI:10.1097/SLA.000000000000001158
  • Morton RP, F Tariq, MR Levitt, JD Nerva, M Mossa-Basha, LN Sekhar, DK Hallam, LJ Kim, BV Ghodke. Radiographic and clinical outcomes in cavernous carotid fistula with special focus on alternative transvenous access techniques; Journal of Clinical Neuroscience 2014
  • Morton RP, JD Nerva, IJ Abecassis, DL Silbergeld, LJ Kim. Operative Cytoreduction For Recurrent Glioblastoma. World neurosurgery 2014; 82 (6), 929-931
  • Morton RP, LJ Kim. Anterior petroclinoid fold fenestration: an adjunct to clipping of postero-laterally projecting posterior communicating aneurysms Comments NEUROSURGICAL REVIEW 37 (4), 641
  • Morton RP, Moore AE, Barber J, Tariq F, Hare K, Ghodke B, Kim LJ, Sekhar LN. Monitoring High-Flow EC-IC Bypass Via Transcranial Duplex Ultrasound: An 8 year experience in 80 patients.Neurosurgery 74 (1), 62-70
  • Morton RP, Hank B, Levitt MR, Fink KT, Peterson EC, Kim LJ, Chesnut RM. Blunt Traumatic Occlusion of the Carotid and Vertebral Arteries: A Single Center Experience. Journal of neurosurgery 120 (6), 1446-1450
  • Morton RP, Reynolds RM, Ramakrishna R, Levitt RM, Lee A, Browd SR. Low-Dose Head CT in Children: A Single Institutional Experience in Pediatric Radiation Risk Reduction Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics 12 (4), 406-410
  • Morton RP, Reynolds RM, Ramakrishna R, Levitt RM, Lee A, Browd SR Avoiding routine postoperative head CT in children RESPONSE. Neurosurgery: Pediatrics 13 (5), 586-587
  • Morton RP, Kim LJ. Preconditioning Effect on Cerebral Vasospasm in Patients With Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage COMMENTS. Neurosurgery 74:358-359, 2014
  • Morton RP, Lucas TH 2nd, Ko A, Browd SR, Ellenbogen RG, Chesnut RM. Intracerebral Abscess Associated with the Camino(R) Intracranial Pressure Monitor: Case Report and Review of the Literature. Journal of neurosurgery 114 (2), 375-380
  • Morton RP, Ackerman PD, Krezlaek M Leonetti JP, Anderson DE Prognostic factors for the incidence and recovery of delayed facial nerve palsy after vestibular schwannoma resection. J Neurosurg 2011 Feb;114(2):375-80.
  • Morton RP, Filardi T Z, Tredway T, Unrepaired Myelomeningocele in a Geriatric Patient: A Case Report and Review of the Literature. Journal of Clinical Case Reports, 2013
  • Morton RP, Hebb AO Comment on “What patients with gilles de la tourette syndrome should be treated with deep brain stimulation and what is the best target? Neurosurgery 71 (1), 192-192 2012
  • Abecassis IJ, Morton RM, Kim LJ, Ghodke BV, Levitt MR. Combined direct and indirect traumatic carotid-cavernous fistula (CCF): Case report and review of the literature. J. Clinical Neuroscience. Published ahead of print 2017
  • Abecassis IJ, Morton RP, McGrath LM, Hanson J, Anna XH, Kelly CM, Levitt MR, Sekhar LN, Kim LJ. Respiratory and swallowing outcomes based on aneurysm location in 360 patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage. Ahead of Print World Neurosurgery 2017
  • Xu, DS, Levitt MR, Kalani YA, Morton RP, Speztler RF, McDougall CG. Dolichoectatic aneurysms of the vertebrobasilar system: clinical and radiographic factors that predict poor outcomes. Journal of Neurosurgery. Published ahead of Print 2017.
  • Abecassis IJ, Morton RP, Kim LJ, Ghodke BV, Levitt MR. Combined direct and indirect traumatic carotid-cavernous fistula (CCF): Case report and review of the literature. J. Clinical Neuroscience. Published ahead of print 2017
  • Bales J, Morton RP, Airhart N, Flum D, Avellino AM. Transanal presentation of a distal ventriculoperitoneal shunt catheter: Management of bowel perforation without laparotomy. SNI: Pediatric Neurosurgery Vol 7: Suppl 44. 2016
  • Barbour MC, McGah PM, Levitt MR, Morton RP, Nerva JD, Mourad PD, Kim LJ, Aliseda. In Vitro Validation of Endovascular Doppler-derived Flow Rates in Cerebral Vessels. Physiological measurement. 2016
  • Levitt MR, Barbour MC, Roscoat SR, Morton RP et al. Computational fluid dynamics of cerebral aneurysm coiling using high-resolution and high-energy synchrotron X-ray microtomography: comparison with the homogeneous porous medium approach neurintsurg-2016-012479
  • Ene CI, Nerva JD, Morton RP et al Safety and efficacy of carmustine (BCNU) wafers for metastatic brain tumors. Surg Neurol Int. 7(Suppl 11): S295–S299. Surg Neurol Int. 2016; 7(Suppl 11): S295–S299.
  • Ene CI, Xu D, Morton RP et al Safety and Efficacy of Preoperative Embolization of Intracranial Hemangioblastomas. Operative Neurosurgery: June 2016 – Volume 12 – Issue 2 – p 135–140 doi: 0.1227/NEU.0000000000001014
  • Bonow RH, Bales JB, Morton RP, Levitt MR, Zhang FZ. Reversible Coma and Duret Hemorrhage After Intracranial Hypotension From Remote Lumbar Spine Surgery. Accepted for publication JNS Spine 2015.
  • Abel TJ, Buckley RT, Morton RP, Gabikian P, Silbergeld DL Recurrent Supplementary Motor Area Syndrome Following Repeat Brain Tumor Resection Involving Supplementary Motor Cortex. Operative Neurosurgery 2015. DOI: 10.1227/NEU.0000000000000847
  • Ene CI, Morton RP, Ferreira MJ, Sekhar LN, Kim LJ. Spontaneous Hemorrhage from Central Nervous System Hemangioblastomas. World Neurosurgery 2015doi:10.1016/j.wneu.2015.02.009
  • Nerva JD, Abecassis IJ, Morton RP, Kim LJ Hemicraniectomy in Older Patients with Malignant MCA Infarction World neurosurgery 2015 doi:10.1016/j.wneu.2015.01.007
  • Bly RA, Morton RP, Kim LJ, Moe KS. Tension Pneumocephalus after Endoscopic Sinus Surgery: A Technical Report of Multiportal Endoscopic Skull Base Repair. Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. December 2014; 151 (6) 1081-3
  • IJ Abecassis, RP Morton, JD Nerva, LJ Kim. Immunotherapy for Secondary Glioblastoma Multiforme: Towards an Isocitrate Dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) Vaccine. World neurosurgery 2014; 82 (6), 933-935
  • Reynolds RM, Morton RP,Walker ML, Massagli TL,Browd SR. Role of dorsal rhizotomy in spinal cord injury induced spasticity: Report of 3 cases. Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics 14 (3), 266-270. DOI: 10.3171/2014.5.PEDS13459.
  • Peterson E.C, Hanak B, Levitt MR, Osbun JW; Morton RP; Sekhar LN;Kim LJ Are aneurysms treated with balloon assisted coiling and stent assisted coiling morphologically different? Morphological analysis of 113 unruptured wide-necked aneurysms treated with adjunctive devices. Neurosurgery 75:145–151, 2014
  • Nerva JD, Morton RP, Levit MR, Osbun JO, Ferreria MJ, Ghodke BV, Kim LJ Pipeline Embolization Device as primary treatment for blister aneurysms and iatrogenic pseudoaneurysms of the internal carotid artery. Journal of neurointerventional surgery neurintsurg-2013-011047
  • McGah PM, Levitt MR, Barbour MC, Morton RP, Nerva JD, Mourad PD, Ghodke BV, Hallam DH, Sekhar LN, Kim LJ, Aliseda A Accuracy of Computational Cerebral Aneurysm Hemodynamics Using Patient-Specific Endovascular Measurements . Annals of biomedical engineering 42 (3), 503-514
  • Levitt MR, McGah PM, Aliseda A, Mourad P, Nerva JD, Vaidya S, Morton RP, Ghodke BV, Kim, LJ. Endovascular sonography of intracranial aneurysms treated with flow-diverting stents: Computational modeling using patient-specific measurements. American Journal of Neuroradiology 35 (1), 143-148
  • Levitt MR, Morton RP, Peterson EC, Osbun JW, Hallam DK, Kim LJ, Ghodke BV, Haynor D, Cohen W, Tozer Fink, KR Angiographic perfusion imaging: Real-time assessment of endovascular treatment for cerebral vasospasm. Journal of Neuroimaging 24 (4), 387-392
  • Sekhar, LN, Tariq, F, Morton RP, Ghodke B, Hallam DK, Barber J, Kim LJ. Basilar tip aneurysms: Microsurgical and Endovascular Treatment-A contemporary series. Neurosurgery. 2013 Feb;72(2):284-98; discussion 298-9.
  • Levitt MR, Morton RP, Mai JC, Ghodke BV, Hallam DK. Endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms in Loeys-Dietz syndrome. Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery 4:e37, 2012
  • Sekhar LN, Morton RP. Comment on: Risk Factors for Three Phases of 12-Month Mortality in a Defined Population after Subarachnoid Hemorrhage. World Neurosurg. 78 (6), 579-580 2011

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