Perspectives in pediatric neurosurgery

The new millennium beckons for novel advances in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric neurosurgical conditions. Almost every aspect of pediatric neurosurgery has changed over the last decade. Undoubtedly with the application of knowledge in molecular biology to human disease many aspects of neurosurgery, especially neuro-oncology and the field of neuro-developmental anomalies, will change appreciably over the next decade. Overall, the trend in surgery in general and neurosurgery in particular is toward less invasive procedures and possibly non-surgical interventions. This review will briefly cover many of the important areas of pediatric neurosurgery. We will describe the state-of-the-art of our subspecialty and discuss possible future directions.