David A. Schessel, MD, PhD

  • Associate Professor of Surgery
  • Chief, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Division

Board Certifications

  • Neurotology
  • Otolaryngology

Training

Medical School
  • Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1985)
PhD
  • Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1983)
Residency Training
  • General Surgery, Montefiore Hospital Medical Center
  • Otolaryngology, Jacobi Medical Center; Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Fellowship Training
  • Neurotology, University of Toronto

Affiliated Specialty Center

Clinical Interests/Expertise

  • Pediatric and adult neurotology/otology
  • Diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the ear and skull base (including dizziness, vertigo and hearing loss; acoustic neuroma; Ménière's disease and benign positional vertigo; otosclerosis [stapes surgery]; ear infections and cholesteatoma; facial nerve problems)
  • Laser ear surgery; skull base surgery
  • Cochlear implants
David A. Schessel, MD, PhD

Contact Information

Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
Department of Surgery, Health Sciences Center T19-068
Stony Brook Medicine
Stony Brook, NY 11794-8191
Tel: 631-444-8410
Fax: 631-444-7635

Practice Location

Surgical Care Center
37 Research Way
East Setauket, NY 11733-3465
Tel: 631-444-4121
Fax: 631-444-4189


For more information, including appointment scheduling and insurance participation, click here.

  • Honors
  • Publications
  • Selected for inclusion in the Best Doctors in America database (2009-2010)
  • Present and past editions of Guide to America's Top Physicians, published by the Consumers' Research Council of America
  • "Top Doctors" selection of Washingtonian Magazine (2005)
  • Service Medal ("for outstanding performance of services"), Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC (2000)
  • Bejjani GK, Wright DC, Schessel D, Sekhar LN. Endodermal cysts of the posterior fossa. Report of three cases and review of the literature. J Neurosurg 1998;89:326-35.
  • Gormley WB, Sekhar LN, Wright DC, Kamerer D, Schessel D. Acoustic neuromas: results of current surgical management. Neurosurgery 1997;41:50-60.
  • Minor LB, Schessel DA, Carey JP. Meniere's disease. Curr Opin Neurol 2004;17:9-16.
  • Natarajan SK, Sekhar LN, Schessel D, Morita A. Petroclival meningiomas: multimodality treatment and outcomes at long-term follow-up. Neurosurgery 2007;60:965-81.
  • Nedzelski JM, Chiong CM, Fradet G, Schessel DA, Bryce GE, Pfleiderer AG. Intratympanic gentamicin instillation as treatment of unilateral Meniere's disease: update of an ongoing study. Am J Otol 1993;14:278-82.
  • Nedzelski JM, Schessel DA, Bryce GE, Pfleiderer AG. Chemical labyrinthectomy: local application of gentamicin for the treatment of unilateral Meniere's disease. Am J Otol 1992;13:18-22.
  • Nedzelski JM, Schessel DA, Pfleiderer A, Kassel EE, Rowed DW. Conservative management of acoustic neuromas. Neurosurg Clin N Am 2008;19:207-16.
  • Nedzelski JM, Schessel DA, Pfleiderer A, Kassel EE, Rowed DW. Conservative management of acoustic neuromas. Otolaryngol Clin North Am 1992;25:691-705.
  • Sarma S, Sekhar LN, Schessel DA. Nonvestibular schwannomas of the brain: a 7-year experience. Neurosurgery 2002;50:437-49.
  • Schessel DA. Ménière's disease and other peripheral vestibular disorders. In: Cummings CW Jr, Haughey BH, Thomas JR, et al., editors. Cummings' Otolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Mosby, 2005.
  • Schessel DA, Ginzberg R, Highstein SM. Morphophysiology of synaptic transmission between type I hair cells and vestibular primary afferents. An intracellular study employing horseradish peroxidase in the lizard, Calotes versicolor. Brain Res 1991;544:1-16.
  • Schessel DA, Highstein SM. Is transmission between the vestibular type I hair cell and its primary afferent chemical? Ann N Y Acad Sci 1981;374:210-4.
  • Schessel DA, Nedzelski JM. Presentation of large vestibular aqueduct syndrome to a dizziness unit. J Otolaryngol 1992;21:265-9.
  • Schessel DA, Nedzelski JM, Kassel EE, Rowed DW. Recurrence rates of acoustic neuroma in hearing preservation surgery. Am J Otol 1992;13:233-5.
  • Schessel DA, Nedzelski JM, Rowed D, Feghali JG. Pain after surgery for acoustic neuroma. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 1992;107:424-9.
  • Schessel DA, Rowed DW, Nedzelski JM, Feghali JG. Postoperative pain following excision of acoustic neuroma by the suboccipital approach: observations on possible cause and potential amelioration. Am J Otol 1993;14:491-4.
  • Sekhar LN, Bucur S, Schessel DA. The operative approaches to jugular foramen lesions. IIn: Sekhar LN, de Oliveira E, editors. Cranial Microsurgery: Approaches and Techniques. New York: Thieme, 1998: 482-516.
  • Sekhar LN, Raso J, Schessel DA. The presigmoid petrosal approach. In: Sekhar LN, de Oliveira E, editors. Cranial Microsurgery: Approaches and Techniques. New York: Thieme, 1998: 432-63.
  • Sekhar LN, Schessel DA, Bucur SD, Raso JL, Wright DC. Partial labyrinthectomy petrous apicectomy approach to neoplastic and vascular lesions of the petroclival area. Neurosurgery 1999;44:537-52.
  • Sekhar LN, Tzortzidis FN, Bejjani GK, Schessel DA. Saphenous vein graft bypass of the sigmoid sinus and jugular bulb during the removal of glomus jugulare tumors. Report of two cases. J Neurosurg 1997;86:1036-41.
  • Tanna N, Sidell D, Schwartz AM, Schessel DA. Cystic lymphatic malformation of the middle ear. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 2008;117:824-6.
  • Weinroth SE, Schessel D, Tuazon CU. Malignant otitis externa in AIDS patients: case report and review of the literature. Ear Nose Throat J 1994;73:772-4, 777-8.