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Review
. 2021 Dec;44(6):3001-3022.
doi: 10.1007/s10143-021-01496-3. Epub 2021 Feb 12.

The brainstem and its neurosurgical history

A I Cucu  1 , S Turliuc  2 , C F Costea  3   4 , A Perciaccante  5   6 , R Bianucci  7   8   9 , S Donell  10 , D V Scripcariu  11 , M D Turliuc  1
Affiliations
Review

The brainstem and its neurosurgical history

A I Cucu et al. Neurosurg Rev. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

Brainstem is one of the most complex structures of the human body, and has the most complex intracranial anatomy, which makes surgery at this level the most difficult. Due to its hidden position, the brainstem became known later by anatomists, and moreover, brainstem surgery cannot be understood without knowing the evolution of ideas in neuroanatomy, neuropathology, and neuroscience. Starting from the first attempts at identifying brainstem anatomy in prehistory and antiquity, the history of brainstem discoveries and approach may be divided into four periods: macroscopic anatomy, microscopic anatomy and neurophysiology, posterior fossa surgery, and brainstem surgery. From the first trepanning of the posterior fossa and later finger surgery, to the occurrence of safe entry zones, this paper aims to review how neuroanatomy and brainstem surgery were understood historically, and how the surgical technique evolved from Galen of Pergamon up to the twenty-first century.

Keywords: Brainstem; History of neurosurgery; Posterior fossa surgery; Safety entry zones.

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