Microsurgical Neurosurgery

Author: Yasargil [Switzerland]
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-07-01
Features: Microsurgical treatment of vascular malformations began in Zurich in January 1967. Over the following 20 years, a total of 414 patients with cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) and 71 patients with spinal AVMs were treated surgically. In addition, 86 patients with cerebral AVMs were discharged from our department without surgical treatment; among them, 40 AVMs were resectable, but the patients refused surgery. Another 24 cases were not operated on due to the risk of neurological damage at the time, and later surgery was performed. There were also 22 cases (22/500=4.4%) of unresectable AVMs. This volume (IIIA and IIIB) summarizes and analyzes the surgical experiences of these 414 intracranial AVMs and the 86 cases that were not surgically treated, discussing the treatment of these refractory lesions before and after the advent of microsurgery, as well as current unresolved issues. Other surgically treatable intracranial vascular lesions, such as cavernous angiomas (22 cases) and venous angiomas (5 cases), are briefly introduced. AVMs of the meninges, spinal meninges, and spinal cord, as well as the interventional and surgical treatment of internal carotid-cavernous fistulas, are not discussed in this book and will be covered in a separate monograph.
Content of Volume IIIA: Historical review, embryology, pathology, hemodynamics, Doppler technology, neuroradiology, microsurgical anatomy, microcirculation, and calcarine sulcus anatomy.
Content of Volume III B: General overview of surgical techniques; treatment methods and surgical outcomes for AVMs in different parts of the brain, such as convexity AVMs (frontal lobe, temporal lobe, insula, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, and cerebellar hemisphere) and deep midline AVMs (limbic system, corpus callosum, internal capsule, basal ganglia, thalamus, midbrain, diencephalon, Galen's vein area, callosal splenium, choroid plexus, pons); overall and specific statistical analysis of disability rate, mortality, complications, and follow-up of non-surgical patients; a chapter on cavernous angiomas and venous angiomas; and a chapter on the neuroanesthetic techniques used in Zurich.