Advances in open neurovascular surgery 2007.

We have read with great interest the Advances in Stroke 2007 subsection in February’s issue of Stroke and congratulate Dr Fisher for nicely amalgamating articles addressing some of the most pressing advances and shortcomings in stroke management over the past year.1 Although advances in interventional approaches to stroke and neurovascular disease were nicely outlined,1,2 we noticed little emphasis on open neurosurgical approaches. Of particular interest to our cerebrovascular team, reviewing the success of hemicraniectomy for malignant middle cerebral artery infarction1,3 served to support the evidence that we have observed at our institution for this successful intervention for an oftentimes devastating disease. We would, however, like to further highlight more of the exciting advances in open cerebrovascular neurosurgery that have emerged over the past year for stroke and neurovascular diseases.