Asian Neurosurgery : In the Last 10 Years and Its Future

Abstract

Around in 1990, it was very rare to meet neurosurgeons from Asia at the international meetings. A few senior professors could attend to it, but young neurosurgeons from Asia were impossible to attend to them because of their financial limitation. However, these young neurosurgeons treated so many poor patients in each country. They could not have chances to learn the neurosurgery update. Then, I did the negotiation with Japanese business companies, and I had the first seminar, neurosurgery update for young neurosurgeons in Asia at Nagoya, (my place) in 1993. Approximately 100 young neurosurgeons under the age of 45 gathered. We, hostside, provided all the air fee, accommodation, and food, et. al. to all the participants. Since that time, we have had 7 meetings in the last decade, and now this meeting is named as Asian CNS. So far, 1,918 young neurosurgeons participated in these meetings. In 2004, at the 7th meeting in Jakarta, we first had the participation from North Korea. Since 2004, WFNS kindly started its support to this meeting. Almost 10 years have passed. During this period, the Asian neurosurgery developed quickly and tremendously. Asia itself has developed in general. For further development of Asian neurosurgery, we began new educational courses. They are 1) cadaver dissection course of skull base, 2) Teleconference, 3) Exchange program among neurosurgeons and neuronurses, 4) Now, we are just beginning the new workshop course such as neuroendoscopic course, fiber dissection course and live surgery. The era for introduction of modern neurosurgery to Asia and grade up the quality of treatment has completed. We must aim the next step up which will be "Do accurate surgery" and "Do respect the patients' life more".