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Evolution of the species – the neurointerventional surgeon in 2017 and beyond

2017; BMJ; Volume: 9; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1136/neurintsurg-2017-013591

1759-8486

Lucas Elijovich,

History of Medical Practice

What we call ourselves as physicians matters. It reflects our daily work and outlines both our role among our peers and our responsibility to patients. When the Portuguese neurologist Antonio Egas Moniz’s performed the first cerebral angiograms in 1926, a new species, the cerebral angiographer, was born. We subsequently evolved along three parallel but mostly asynchronous evolutionary lines with pioneers such as Berenstein, Serbenenko, and Djindjian to name a few. Neurointerventional Radiologists, Endovascular Neurosurgeons or Neurologists all contributed and advanced the field. Progressive improvements in imaging techniques and devices, and fundamental advancements in medical knowledge transformed angiographers from diagnosticians to surgeons consistent with the 13th century Anglo-Norman origin of the word: ‘sorgien, cirurgian – person who heals by manual operation on the patient’.1 Over time, these three evolutionary lines recognized they had more similarities than differences and the angiographer was renamed the Neurointerventional Surgeon as reflected by our Society and this Journal. We can be sure that further evolution is inevitable in response to the changing medical environment. The …