• Luke D Tomycz, Christopher Markosian, Igor Kurilets, Mykhailo Lovha, Oleksandra Kashyrina, Andrii Netliukh, Kostiantyn Kostiuk, Valeriy Cheburakhin, Andriy Polishchuk, Jonathan Forbes, Michael Cohen, Jefferson Miley, Matthew Geck, Hanna Siryk, Taras Mykytyn, Volodymyr Diakiv, Viktor Salo, Igor Yushchak, and Mariya Soroka.
• New Jersey Brain and Spine, Montclair, New Jersey, USA. Electronic address: tomyczluke@gmail.com.
• World Neurosurg. 2021 Mar 1; 147: e491-e515.

ObjectiveWe aim to provide a thorough description of the efforts and outcomes of the Co-Pilot Project in Ukraine, which facilitates neurosurgical collaboration between American and Ukrainian physicians.MethodsThe Co-Pilot Project, which operates under its parent nonprofit organization, Razom, organized multiple trips for American physicians to Ukraine. Activities included consulting in clinic, assisting with neurosurgical operations, and providing didactic lectures. Further efforts have included coordinating training opportunities for Ukrainian surgeons. We retrospectively reviewed all operations performed by Ukrainian partner physicians alongside American co-pilot physicians across Ukraine since August 2016.ResultsTeams of Ukrainian and American physicians operated on 78 patients (24 children and 54 adults) for a total of 84 procedures in 5 different cities (Kyiv, Lutsk, Lviv, Odessa, and Stryi) of Ukraine. Operations were classified into the following categories: adult brain tumors (n = 39), adult spine tumors (n = 1), epilepsy (n = 9), pain (n = 2), pediatric brain tumors (n = 11), vascular/endovascular (n = 10), and miscellaneous (n = 12). Four illustrative cases are described in detail. Of the patients with brain tumors, 43.5% (20/46) had giant tumors, and gross total resection or near-total resection was achieved in 78.3% (36/46).ConclusionsProfound disparities in neurosurgical care exist globally, which has led to the formation of collaborative relationships between physicians from various countries. We hope that the work of the Co-Pilot Project in Ukraine can serve as a template for effective international neurosurgical collaboration in other low-to-middle-income countries.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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