World Neurosurg
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Restricted access to neurosurgical care in rural sub-Saharan Africa remains an unaddressed and formidable challenge. Despite the implementation of a rigorous 5-year curriculum to train and certify indigenous neurosurgeons "in continent" as Fellows of the College of Surgeons in Neurosurgery for East, Central, and Southern Africa (FCS-ecsa-NS), provincial and rural hospitals are likely to see no change in this woeful status quo for the foreseeable future. Modifying that curriculum with a two-tiered training experience that includes fast-track certification of general surgeons to perform basic neurosurgical procedures in their own hospitals is a viable alternative to redress this problem in a timely fashion. Founded on a competence-based as opposed to a time-served assessment of clinical/surgical skills along the lines of a 2002 landmark study in the United Kingdom, such an approach (in tandem with retaining separate FCS certification for prospective faculty in the NSTP-ECSA program) deserves urgent reconsideration.
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Pial arteriovenous fistula is a rare disease and surgical treatment for these lesions is difficult. We present our clinical outcomes of endovascular treatment for intracranial pial arteriovenous fistula (AVF). ⋯ Transarterial embolization of the arterial feeders using coils and/or liquid embolic agents may be a good treatment for pial AVFs. Hydrocephalus caused by venous thrombosis is the main complication.
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The endoscopic transsphenoidal approach has become widely used for pituitary and extended skull base operations. Intraoperative conversion to a microscopic approach may be an important option in selected cases. We aim to characterize the operative situations in which such conversion occurred and facilitated the procedure. ⋯ Although endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery provides superior visualization in most patients, conversion to a microscopic or endoscopic-assisted approach may provide essential visualization in selected patients. This may be especially true in patients undergoing reoperation and patients with acromegaly or Cushing's disease. Trainees learning the endoscopic transsphenoidal approach should become familiar with the benefits and limitations of the various transsphenoidal approaches.
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Historical Article
The Foundation for International Education in Neurological Surgery.
The Foundation for International Education in Neurological Surgery (FIENS) was established in 1969 for the purpose of promoting neurosurgical education and patient care in the developing world. Ghana, the first African site, was adopted in 1989. In 2005 a neurosurgical training program was developed for Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda in East Africa and the College of Surgeons of Central, East, and Southern Africa (COSECSA) approved the curriculum.