Yasargil Higway in Neurosurgery

My Teacher Professor Yasargil is very famous doctor, mentor, surgeon, lider, scientist, researcher, inventor and teacher of last Century, not only in Neurosurgery, but also in Neuroscience of the World. His very important Neurosurgical Way and thecniques, the pterional trans Sylvian approach, I called as “Yasargil Higway” is commonly employed in surgery of the anterior circulation and upper basilar artery aneurysms, as well as for the tumors of orbital, retroorbital, sellar, chiasmatic, sub frontal and prepontine areas and lesions around the sella especially for lesions behind the clivus. Also tumors arising from the medial sphenoid ridge, the superior orbital fissure, the anteromedial temporal surface, or the cavernous sinus region are approached through a pterional exposure. The modification of surgical technique is based on the experience, training and observation of the neurosurgeon. One technique is not necessarily better than the another. Regardless of the surgical technique, the end results depend on a rigorous, methodical, systematic, and step by-step approach to the target, securing it with minimal injury to surrounding structures. In this article, according to the personal experiences of Ismail Hakkı Aydin, MD (the Author), it was analyzed the Intraoperative anatomical findings of the Sylvian vein and fissure, lenticulostriatal artery, olfactory nerve, and recurrent artery of Heubnerand showed the surgical pitfalls and steps in personal cases with different diagnoses that were operated on with the pterional approach in Yasargil Higway. All patients were operated on by the Author. The findings were recorded during surgical interventions and through the slides and videotapes of the operations. Also, we have stressed the preservation of the front temporal branch of the facial nerve, the delicate retraction of frontal lobe, the cottonoid retraction in temporal lobe and the preservation of olfactory nerve functions.