The role of imaging in the development of neurosurgery

Abstract

The development of modern neurosurgery was, and remains, intimately associated with developments in radiology. Neuroimaging advances have been instrumental in improving patient care and reducing both morbidity and mortality for neurosurgical patients. The purpose of this narrative review is to provide the contemporary neurosurgeon with an overview of the history of the development of radiology as applied to neurosurgery. The focus is on cranial imaging but the spine is also discussed. This article demonstrates the remarkable advancements that have shaped our modern surgical specialty. Today, almost 120 years after the discovery of the X-ray, the neurosurgeon has a wide array of neuroimaging tools at their disposal, that have led to better knowledge to inform diagnosis and management, selection of appropriate patients and surgical targets, as well as optimal surgical approaches. Modern neurosurgery is based on the appropriate use of these investigations. The pace of neuroimaging and neurosurgical advances continues and the future promises to be as, if not more, exciting as the past and present described in this paper.

Keywords: Cerebral angiography; Computed tomography; Magnetic resonance imaging; Neuroimaging; Pneumoencephalography; Stereotactic neurosurgery; Ventriculography.