[Neuroendoscopy: diagnosis and therapeutic uses]

Minimally invasive neurosurgical techniques permit improved ways of approaching problems which could previously only be solved by open surgery or microsurgery. In this field, neuroendoscopy offers a very efficient, clear means of diagnosis and a less aggressive form of treatment of lesions on the central nervous system. Particularly in paediatric neurosurgery, procedures such as implanting valves for ventriculo-peritonial derivations (DVP) may be carried out knowing the exacts anatomical site of the catheter tip, or allowing catheters adherent to structures such as the choroid to be removed. Ventriculoscopy permits review and biopsy of intraventricular and paraventricular structures. Myeloscopy allows intramedullary and paramedullary visualization together with the possibility of syringoscopy. The new option presented by neuroendoscopy, as a help in microneurosurgery, when studying structures which are not visible using a microscope, is particularly useful in vascular surgery and in surgery of the base of the skull. It also permits rapid, efficient drainage of subdural and intraventricular haematomas. This technique has become a useful tool in neurosurgical departments for solving problems and as a support for the classical techniques. Equally it requires practice and the study of neuroendoscopic anatomy.