Rex A.W. Marco, MD

Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, Academic Institute
Houston Methodist
Weill Cornell Medical College


Biography

Dr. Marco's mission is to provide his patients with compassionate and comprehensive care with the best possible outcomes. Through his years of experience, he has developed relationships with some of the finest physicians and health care professionals in their fields. He has assembled an elite multidisciplinary oncology team to comprehensively treat his patients with bone and soft tissue tumors including adult and pediatric radiation and medical oncologists, surgical oncologists, pathologists and reconstructive surgeons. Dr. Marco also has a similarly impressive team of physical therapists and physical medicine/rehabilitation specialists for his patients with disorders of the spine.

Dr. Marco is a leading surgical expert in the treatment of patients with complex spinal disorders and musculoskeletal tumors. He is credited with more than 130 presentations and medical journal and textbook publications.

An avid snowboarder, Dr. Marco volunteers for USSA as a team physician for the US Ski and Snowboard Teams.

Education & Training

MD, University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine
Clinical Fellowship, Rush Presbyterian-Saint Luke's Hospital
Residency, UCSD Medical Center
Publications

At-Risk Tackling Techniques and Effectiveness in NCAA Division I Collegiate Football
Hirase, T, Bondar, K, Doucet, D, Moore, B, Saifi, C & Marco, RAW 2023, , Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 11, no. 7, pp. 23259671231182968. https://doi.org/10.1177/23259671231182968

Anterior Column Realignment Using an Anterior-To-Psoas Approach: A Radiographic-Anatomic Feasibility Study at L1-L5
Hirase, T, Shin, C, Thirumavalavan, J, Boddapati, V, Lee, T, Haghshenas, V & Marco, RAW 2023, , Global Spine Journal. https://doi.org/10.1177/21925682231161577

Preoperative Serum Albumin Level Predicts Length of Stay and Perioperative Adverse Events Following Vertebral Corpectomy and Posterior Stabilization for Metastatic Spine Disease
Hirase, T, Taghlabi, KM, Cruz-Garza, JG, Faraji, AH, Marco, RAW & Saifi, C 2023, , Global Spine Journal. https://doi.org/10.1177/21925682231163814

Response to Letter Regarding “Predictive Value of Preoperative Serum Albumin in Patients With Metastatic Spine Diseases: A Statistical Comment”
Cruz-Garza, JG, Hirase, T, Bhenderu, LS, Taghlabi, KM, Faraji, AH, Marco, RAW & Saifi, C 2023, , Global Spine Journal. https://doi.org/10.1177/21925682231172165

Obesity and perioperative adverse events in patients undergoing complex revision surgery for the thoracolumbar spine
Hirase, T, Ling, JF, Haghshenas, V, Fuld, R, Dong, D, Hanson, DS, Meyer, BC & Marco, RAW 2022, , BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, vol. 23, no. 1, 534. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-022-05505-4

Commentary to “A Review of Functional Restoration From Spinal Cord Stimulation in Patients With Spinal Cord Injury”
Marco, RAW 2022, , Neurospine, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 735-736. https://doi.org/10.14245/ns.2244746.373

A Practical Classification System for Acute Cervical Spinal Cord Injury Based on a Three-Phased Modified Delphi Process From the AOSpine Spinal Cord Injury Knowledge Forum
Hachem, LD, Zhu, M, Aarabi, B, Davies, B, DiGiorgio, A, Evaniew, N, Fehlings, MG, Ganau, M, Graves, D, Guest, J, Ha, Y, Harrop, J, Hofstetter, C, Koljonen, P, Kurpad, S, Marco, R, Martin, AR, Nagoshi, N, Nouri, A, Rahimi-Movaghar, V, Rodrigues-Pinto, R, Wengel, VT, Tetreault, L, Kwon, B & Wilson, JR 2022, , Global Spine Journal. https://doi.org/10.1177/21925682221114800

Authors’ reply to letter to the editor regarding “Sarcopenia predicts perioperative adverse events following complex revision surgery for the thoracolumbar spine”
Hirase, T, Haghshenas, V, Bratescu, R, Dong, D, Kuo, PH, Rashid, A, Kavuri, V, Hanson, DS, Meyer, BC & Marco, RAW 2021, , Spine Journal, vol. 21, no. 11, pp. 1950-1951. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spinee.2021.06.022

Determining C2 Pedicle Screw Placement Feasibility in the Pediatric Population: A Computed Tomographic Safe Zone Analysis
Hirase, T, Zhuge, W, Phelps, CI, Kushwaha, VP & Marco, RAW 2021, , Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics, vol. 41, no. 9, pp. 580-584. https://doi.org/10.1097/BPO.0000000000001938

Biomechanical investigation of potential prophylactic scoliosis treatments following various sizes of chest wall resection
Witte, ZW, Mahoney, JM, Harris, JA, Sheikh, HP, Haghshenas, V, Bucklen, BS & Marco, RA 2021, , Clinical Biomechanics, vol. 87, 105416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2021.105416

Sarcopenia predicts perioperative adverse events following complex revision surgery for the thoracolumbar spine
Hirase, T, Haghshenas, V, Bratescu, R, Dong, D, Kuo, PH, Rashid, A, Kavuri, V, Hanson, DS, Meyer, BC & Marco, RAW 2021, , Spine Journal, vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 1001-1009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spinee.2021.02.001

Correction to: Anterior versus posterior spinal fusion for Lenke type 5 adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of comparative studies (Spine Deformity, (2022), 10, 2, (267-281), 10.1007/s43390-021-00436-x)
Hirase, T, Ling, JF, Haghshenas, V, Thirumavalavan, J, Dong, D, Hanson, DS & Marco, RAW 2022, , Spine Deformity, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 283. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43390-021-00447-8

Anterior versus posterior spinal fusion for Lenke type 5 adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of comparative studies
Hirase, T, Ling, JF, Haghshenas, V, Thirumavalavan, J, Dong, D, Hanson, DS & Marco, RAW 2022, , Spine Deformity, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 267-281. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43390-021-00436-x

State of the art for metastatic histologies
Haghshenas, V, Sayari, AJ, Shehabeldin, AN & Marco, RAW 2020, . in Surgical Spinal Oncology: Contemporary Multidisciplinary Strategies. Springer, pp. 211-233. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50722-0_14

Decreased radiation exposure using pulsed fluoroscopy and a detachable pedicle marker and probe to place pedicle screws: a comparison to current fluoroscopy techniques and CT navigation
Marco, RAW, Curry, MC, Mujezinovic, F & Linton, J 2020, , Spine Deformity, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 405-411. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43390-020-00086-5

At-Risk Tackling Techniques in American Football
Stockwell, DW, Blalock, R, Podell, K & Marco, RAW 2020, , Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 8, no. 2. https://doi.org/10.1177/2325967120902714

Cervicothoracic approach: Manubriotomy and sternotomy
Miller, K, Blackmon, SH & Marco, RAW 2018, . in Spinal Tumor Surgery: A Case-Based Approach. Springer International Publishing, pp. 57-68. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98422-3_6

Generation of patient-derived tumor xenografts from percutaneous tumor biopsies in children with bone sarcomas
Rainusso, N, Cleveland, H, Hernandez, JA, Quintanilla, NM, Hicks, J, Vasudevan, S, Marco, RAW, Allen-Rhoades, W, Wang, LL & Yustein, JT 2019, , Pediatric Blood and Cancer, vol. 66, no. 4, e27579. https://doi.org/10.1002/pbc.27579

Radiologic analysis of C2 to predict safe placement of pedicle screws
Marco, RAW, Phelps, CI, Kuo, RC, Zhuge, W, Howard, CW, Kushwaha, VP & Bernstein, DT 2018, , International Journal of Spine Surgery, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 30-36. https://doi.org/10.14444/5006

Single stage en bloc resection of a recurrent metastatic osteosarcoma of the pediatric lumbar spine through multiple exposures - A novel approach
Gupta, S, Stinson, ZS, Marco, RA & Dormans, JP 2018, , SICOT-J, vol. 4, 32. https://doi.org/10.1051/sicotj/2018028