World Neurosurg
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Biography Historical Article
Sofia Ionescu, the first woman neurosurgeon in the world.
The authors present the activity of Mrs. Sofia Ionescu, the one female surgeon who was nominated as the first woman neurosurgeon in the world. Sofia Ionescu worked in the field of neurosurgery for 47 years, performing all the known neurosurgical procedures of the time. ⋯ The first documented surgical intervention performed by Diana Beck dates to 1952. Sofia Ionescu operated for the first time on a human brain as early as 1944. Furthermore, Diana Beck's actions surfaced in the year 1947, long after the war had ended and Sofia Ionescu had become a neurosurgeon.
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Fundamentals of neurosurgery: virtual reality tasks for training and evaluation of technical skills.
Technical skills training in neurosurgery is mostly done in the operating room. New educational paradigms are encouraging the development of novel training methods for surgical skills. Simulation could answer some of these needs. This article presents the development of a conceptual training framework for use on a virtual reality neurosurgical simulator. ⋯ The conceptual framework presented here, the Fundamentals of Neurosurgery, represents a first attempt to develop standardized training modules for technical skills acquisition in neurosurgical oncology. The National Research Council Canada is currently developing NeuroTouch, a virtual reality simulator for cranial microneurosurgery. The simulator presently includes the five Fundamentals of Neurosurgery modules at varying stages of completion. A first pilot study has shown that neurosurgical residents obtained higher performance scores on the simulator than medical students. Further work will validate its components and use in a training curriculum.
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Endoscopy has provided a less invasive approach to skull base surgery, mainly through endonasal routes, but has been limited in its applications due to potential complications. The aims of this study were to evaluate the feasibility of the purely endoscopic extradural transcranial approach to lateral and central skull base through a subtemporal keyhole and to better understand potential distortions of the related anatomy via endoscopy. ⋯ The endoscopic extradural subtemporal approach was feasible. This approach could display a wide range of lateral and central skull base structures with minimal invasiveness. The use of extradural space would be key to performing safe and effective endoscopic skull base surgery.