• Tufan Hicdonmez, M Kemal Hamamcioglu, Mehmet Tiryaki, Ziya Cukur, and Sebahattin Cobanoglu.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Trakya University Faculty of Medicine, 22030 Edirne, Turkey. tufanhicodonmez@yahoo.com
• Surg Neurol. 2006 Jul 1;66(1):100-4; discussion 104.

BackgroundResidents of neurosurgery need many years to develop microneurosurgical skills, and laboratory training models are essential for developing and refining surgical skills before clinical application of microneurosurgery. A simple simulation model is needed for young residents to learn how to handle microneurosurgical instruments, and to perform safe dissection of intracranial vessels and nerves.MethodsThe material consists of a 2-year-old fresh cadaveric cow cranium. A 4-step approach was designed to dissect the internal carotid artery and its proximal branches, the optic nerve, the optic chiasm, and the pituitary stalk.ResultsThe model simulates standard microneurosurgery using a variety of approaches to vessels and neural structures in and around the circle of Willis of the human brain.ConclusionThe cadaveric cow brain, besides being cost-effective, represents a fairly useful method to accustom residents of neurosurgery, especially junior residents, to dissecting intracranial vessels and nerves, and it simulates intracranial microneurosurgical procedures performed in the human brain.

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