Abstract
Since computed tomography (CT)-guided stereotactic surgery is essentially blind surgery, it always involves the risk of injuring viable brain tissue and vessels. Thus, we have developed a new endoneurosurgical system for stereotactic brain surgery. This system consists of a neuroendoscope made of a Selfoc® long rod-shaped deflective distribution lens 1.0mm in diameter, a special ultrasonic aspirator for fragmentation and aspiration of hard blood clots, a micromanipulator and a specially designed stereotactic attachment device, so that they can be accurately inserted into the optimum position from any direction.
We have applied this stereotactic endoneurosurgical system to 30 cases of intracerebral hematoma comprising 12 putaminal, 11 thalamic, 4 subcortical, 2 brain stem, 1 cerebellar hemorrhage. The mean age was 65 years old, 79% of patients were over 60 years old, mean hematoma volume was 22ml mean rate of removal was 85%, and there was no intraoperative or postoperative hemorrhage. During removal of an intracerebral hematoma, intraoperative bleeding was prevented by the direct observation of microvessels in the wall of the hematoma cavity.
This system was developed to allow application of stereotactic techniques to endoscopic surgery. The stereotactic endoneurosurgery is considered to be less invasive, safer, and more accurate, as it can be applied to removal of intracerebral hematoma.
