World Neurosurg
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Historical Article
The history of neurosurgery in Anatolia and Turkey: the Turkish Neurosurgical Society.
Although the history of neurosurgery in Anatolia goes back ten thousand years, modern surgery began in Turkey in 1890. Neurosurgery in Turkey began in the first half of the 20th century. However, general surgeons began applying neurosurgical techniques back in the late 19th century. ⋯ Currently there are almost 1200 neurosurgeons in Turkey and 75 training clinics at university hospitals and Training and Research Hospitals of the Ministry of Health provide neurosurgery training. The current state of neurosurgery in Turkey is parallel to that of the advanced Western countries. Apart from the application of neurosurgical procedures, there have been many scientific studies from Turkish neurosurgeons contributing to the total body of literature in neurosurgery.
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There has been a resurgence of interest in the use of decompressive craniectomy for severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Numerous studies have shown that the procedure can consistently reduce intracranial pressure (ICP), and a significant number of patients achieve a good long-term functional recovery. However, there has been debate regarding clinical indications and patient selection. ⋯ The role of decompressive craniectomy when ICP continues to increase ≥20 mm Hg remains to be established. The ongoing RESCUEicp (Randomised Evaluation of Surgery with Craniectomy for Uncontrollable Elevation of Intra-Cranial Pressure) study hopes to address this issue.
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Biography Historical Article
Florence Nightingale: light to illuminate the world from the woman with the lantern.
The Ottoman-Russian war of 1853 to 1855 was significant not only as a war, but also in response to a reflex from the West brought with itself novel approaches related to care of patients under severe health conditions. Florence Nightingale and her associates assigned at that time to care for soldiers in Istanbul who were severely ailing as a result of battle conditions were instrumental in the emergence of a hitherto unknown profession. This article examines the progress of events in the London-Istanbul axis that led to this development.
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Historical Article
The impact of German-speaking academicians on higher education in Turkey.
The transition from the medieval universities to the secular, second generation universities in Turkey occurred in the period from 1773 to 1945. The Ottoman Empire's efforts to establish a higher education system in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries only aimed at modernization of the armed forces, and the civil effects on the general society were only secondary. After the Turkish Republic was founded in 1923, complete modernization of all institutions of society, including political, social, educational, economic, and law reforms, were initiated by the President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. ⋯ Step by step, he created a new language, a new alphabet, achieved unified and secular education under government supervision, formed primary and secondary education to support higher education, took expert opinion on forming the new university, and finally established the modern university. German-speaking academicians have played a very important role during the creation of the modern secular university in Turkey. This is a short analysis of this period.
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Desmoid tumors are rare clinical entities that cause significant morbidity based on their locally aggressive nature. Complete resection with wide margins is the standard of care; however, when arising in the neck, resection is limited due to proximity of the lesion to critical structures. ⋯ Complete resection of desmoid tumors is the standard of care. In this case, we felt that complete resection would lead to iatrogenic instability; therefore, an occiput to thoracic fusion was performed at the time of the resection.