Stereotactic surgery has merged into general neurosurgery; functional neurosurgery is increasingly 'applied...

Stereotactic and functional operations represent, altogether, about 20% of all surgeries in a large number of Neurological Institutions, and this percentage is steadily increasing. To a large extent, stereotactic surgery has essentially merged with general neurosurgery. Therefore stereotactic techniques, at least to perform biopsies, should be available to any well-trained neurosurgeon. Functional neurosurgery is increasingly dependent upon clinical neurophysiology, not only for guidance of the procedure, but also for better selection of patients and objective assessment of results. Therefore, the concept of interventional neurophysiology must be recognized and acknowledged.