Microsurgical Approaches to the Target Areas of the Brain

Preface Drawings and scripts were selected from those tion of the operative routes and their alternatives which were produced by the author in the last for well-defined anatomical target areas alone. This three years to help educate young neurosurgeons viewpoint becomes more and more important, be- in Freiburg and in other clinics. cause today there is no anatomical structure of the This programm for education may be managed in 2 brain which cannot be approached with a minimal steps: risk for surviving the operation. But more and more - Learning techniques for performing of trepana- the risk for neurologicalor psychological postopera- tions from opening of the skin onto dura incision tive complications will rise if the anatomical and (step 1) neurophysiological knowledge is insufficient. These - Learning of techniques for routine operations viewpoints are most important in operations at the (e. g. , for extirpation of gliomas of cerebral lobes) cranial base and operations transcrossing midline (step 2) structures of the brain. An intensive anatomical - Learning of techniques for operative approach es training helps to understand MRI before opera- in problematic areas of the cranial and cerebral tion. Often the modern MRI demonstrates more base and of the midline, especially for the often anatomical details than the unexperienced neurosur- performed operations, e. g. for basal meningeo- geon has understood.