Skip to Content
800-533-8762
  • Careers
  • Newsroom
  • Health Care Professionals
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
UPMC
  • Find a Doctor
  • Services
    • Frequently Searched Services
    • Frequently Searched Services
      Allergy & Immunology Behavioral & Mental Health Cancer Ear, Nose & Throat Endocrinology Gastroenterology Heart & Vascular Imaging Neurosciences Orthopaedics
      Physical Rehabilitation Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Primary Care Senior Services Sports Medicine Telemedicine Transplant Surgery Walk-In Care Weight Management Women’s Health
      See all Services
    • Services by Region
    • Find a UPMC health care facility close to you quickly by browsing by region.
      UPMC in Western Pa. Western Pa. and New York
      UPMC in Central Pa. Central Pa.
      UPMC in North Central Pa. North Central Pa.
      UPMC in Western Md. Maryland & West Virginia
    • See All Services
  • Locations
    • Locations by Type
    • Locations by Type
      UPMC hospitals
      Hospitals
      Physical Therapy
      Physical Therapy
      Urgent care
      Walk-In Care
      UPMC Outpatient Centers
      Outpatient Centers
      UPMC Imaging Services
      Imaging
      Community Health Centers
      Community Health Centers
      See All Locations
    • Locations by Region
    • Locations by Region
      UPMC in Southwest Pa. Southwest Pa.
      UPMC in North Central Pa. North Central Pa.
      UPMC in Northwest Pa and Ny. Northwest Pa. & Western N.Y.
      UPMC in West Central Pa. West Central Pa.
      UPMC in Central Pa. Central Pa.
      UPMC in Western Md. Maryland & West Virginia
    • See All Locations
  • Patients & Visitors
    • Patient & Visitor Resources
    • Patient & Visitor Resources
      Patients and Visitors Resources Pay a Bill Classes & Events Medical Records Health Library Patient Information
      Patient Portals Privacy Information Shared Decision Making Traveling Patients Visitor Information
      Man uses mobile phone
      Pay a Bill
      Nurse reviews medical chart
      Request Medical Records
  • Patient Portals
  • Find Covid-19 updates
  • Schedule an appointment
  • Request medical records
  • Pay a bill
  • Learn about financial assistance
  • Find classes & events
  • Send a patient an eCard
  • Make a donation
  • Volunteer
  • Read HealthBeat blog
  • Explore UPMC Careers
Skip to Content
UPMC
  • Patient Portals
  • For Patients & Visitors
    • Find a Doctor
    • Locations
    • Patient & Visitor Resources
    • Pay a Bill
    • Services
    • More
      • Medical Records
      • Financial Assistance
      • Classes & Events
      • HealthBeat Blog
      • Health Library
  • About UPMC
    • Why UPMC
    • Facts & Stats
    • Supply Chain Management
    • Community Commitment
    • More
      • Financials
      • Support UPMC
      • UPMC Apps
      • UPMC Enterprises
      • UPMC International
  • For Health Care Professionals
    • Physician Information
    • Resources
    • Education & Training
    • Departments
    • Credentialing
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • Newsroom
  • UPMC >
  • Our Services >
  • Neurosurgery >
  • ... >
  • Patient Stories >
  • Cranial Nerve Disorders >
  • Emerson Prattis
Neurosurgery
About Us
Contact Us
Conditions and Treatments
Brain
Spine Neurosurgery
Neurophysiology
Meet the Neurosurgery Experts
Patient Stories
Brain Tumors
Chiari Malformation
Cranial Nerve Disorders
Movement Disorders and Epilepsy
Neurovascular
Pituitary
Spine
Classes, Events, & News
Neurocirugia
Neurosurgery
About Us
Contact Us
Conditions and Treatments
Brain
Spine Neurosurgery
Neurophysiology
Meet the Neurosurgery Experts
Patient Stories
Brain Tumors
Chiari Malformation
Cranial Nerve Disorders
Movement Disorders and Epilepsy
Neurovascular
Pituitary
Spine
Classes, Events, & News
Neurocirugia

Chat Keywords List

  • cancel or exit: Stops your conversation
  • start over: Restarts your current scenario
  • help: Shows what this bot can do
  • terms: Shows terms of use and privacy statement
  • feedback: Give us feedback
Continue
Chat with UPMC
RESTART
MENU
CLOSE

Emerson Prattis: Hemifacial Spasm

Emerson smiles. He wears a straw woven hat. He has on a white and blie striped shirt. The sky is blue behind him.

The Challenge

In 1980, Emerson Prattis developed a twitch in his right eye. A Delaware resident, Emerson visited doctors in Philadelphia and Baltimore hoping for a cure. For years, his doctors administered injections, but they had little effect, and MRIs revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Experiencing no improvement, Emerson learned to live with the twitch.


"Pittsburgh is the medical place to be.” — Emerson.


In 2008, he started experiencing spasms in the right side of his face. As a truck driver Emerson felt it was no longer safe to drive because the spasms made his eye close and interfered with his vision. He quit his job and sold his truck.

“As it progressed, that spasm began to get worse and worse and worse,” Emerson says. “It just got worse every week.”

Schedule an Appointment or Ask a Question

The Path to UPMC

Emerson’s daughter Vereta felt helpless as she watched him suffer. As her father’s spasms worsened, she began researching his condition, hemifacial spasm, on the Internet, where she found information and videos about a surgery that had been shown to alleviate similar spasms.

“He was led to believe that there was not an operation or anything else my dad could really do to stop that spasm, that he just had to live with it,” Vereta says.

Vereta showed her dad what she found, and he agreed to pursue surgery. With renewed hope, Vereta and several family members started to search for doctors who could perform the surgery. One night, both Vereta and her aunt were in the midst of online research when they came across their answer: UPMC.

“When I called my aunt at 10:00 that night, we had the same doctor and the same hospital, and we thanked God for that,” Vereta says.

The Solution

Vereta made an appointment with a UPMC neurosurgeon. Soon after, she and her father made the trip from Delaware to Pittsburgh, and in March 2016, at the age of 78, Emerson underwent a procedure that would eliminate a 36-year-old problem.

The Results

Emerson was thrilled with his experience at UPMC and felt so blessed to have been led to Pittsburgh that he was overcome with laughter and joy throughout the surgery and recovery. He left the hospital within a few days of his surgery and now experiences no twitching in his eye or face.

“Pittsburgh is the medical place to be,” says Emerson, who recommends that anyone who can’t find sufficient treatment elsewhere come to UPMC.

Now that the hemifacial spasm, or HFS, that plagued Emerson for so long is gone, he can get back to driving and doing the things he loves. Vereta and the rest of Emerson’s family, which includes 50 grandchildren, are glad to spend time with him as he enjoys a better quality of life than he has in decades.


Our patient stories profile a number of patients who have had minimally invasive brain surgery at UPMC. Although everyone's care experience is unique, we hope that sharing these stories will help other prospective patients and their families better understand these procedures and their potential benefits.

Emerson's treatment and results may not be representative of all similar cases.

Read More Cranial Nerve Disorder Stories

UPMC
200 Lothrop Street Pittsburgh, PA 15213

412-647-8762 800-533-8762

Patients And Visitors
  • Find a Doctor
  • Locations
  • Pay a Bill
  • Patient & Visitor Resources
  • Disabilities Resource Center
  • Services
  • Medical Records
  • No Surprises Act
  • Price Transparency
  • Financial Assistance
  • Classes & Events
  • Health Library
Health Care Professionals
  • Physician Information
  • Resources
  • Education & Training
  • Departments
  • Credentialing
Newsroom
  • Newsroom Home
  • Inside Life Changing Medicine Blog
  • News Releases
About
  • Why UPMC
  • Facts & Stats
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Community Commitment
  • Financials
  • Supporting UPMC
  • HealthBeat Blog
  • UPMC Apps
  • UPMC Enterprises
  • UPMC Health Plan
  • UPMC International
  • Nondiscrimination Policy
Life changing is...
Follow UPMC
  • Contact Us
  • Website/Email Terms of Use
  • Medical Advice Disclaimer
  • Privacy Information
  • Active Privacy Alerts
  • Sitemap
© 2025 UPMC I Affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences Supplemental content provided by Healthwise, Incorporated. To learn more, visit healthwise.org
Find Care
Providers
Video Visit
Portal Login