Neurosurgical forum: December 1999, Volume 91, Number 6

plants available. For this reason we have found that Teflon provides the most effective decompression because of its pliability. If compression by the implant is the proposed cause of recurrence, why is the recurrence rate so low? Drs. Ryu and Yamamoto propose an interesting alternative technique for performing microvascular decompression by coapting the vascular loop to the dura with the use of fibrin glue. We wonder, however, whether fixation of the artery with fibrin glue will provide long-term decompression of the nerve. Intuitively it would seem that continuous arterial pulsation would, over time, detether the vascular loop from the dura mater and cause recurrent compression of the nerve. MARK R. MCLAUGHLIN, M.D. PETER J. JANNETTA, M.D. BRIAN R. SUBACH, M.D. University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania