Recent advances in neurosurgical techniques - historical considerations.

1. The basic principles of neurosurgery have changed but not as radically as we might believe. 2. The most radical changes include a full facility of power tools, the aid of magnification techniques with excellent illumination, and the great value of shrinking agents, with less damage to the assaulted brain. 3. The surgeon has been aided by a reclassification of tumors and thus can estimate his surgical attack and prognosis more accurately. History has not proven the malignant gliomas amenable to long-term surgical results, and out hopes must lie in chemotherapy. 4. The ancillary disciplines of neuroradiology and neuroanesthesia have aided the surgeon immeasurably in the planning of his operation, but the final results still depend basically on the surgeon's ability and judgment in that difficult decision "should I go for broke or stop?"