Video : Update on vestibular schwannoma microneurosurgery. Considerations on a series of 260 consecutive cases.

Luciano Mastronardi
Unit of Neurosurgery ASLRoma1, San Filippo Neri Hospital, Roma, Italy
Takanori Fukushima
Neurosurgery Department, Duke Medical Center, Raleigh, NC, USA
Alberto Campione
Unit of Neurosurgery ASLRoma1, San Filippo Neri Hospital, Roma, Italy

Advances in Vestibular Schwannoma Microneurosurgery
Improving Results with New Technologies
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EANS. OBSERVERSHIPS & AWARDS (.docx)

EANS. List Of Short observership centers (.xls)

Press Release Friday, July 3, 2015

It is held from 7th to 9th October 2015 in Arezzo an International “hands-on” Dissection for specialists in Neurosurgery on injected anatomical specimens.
Theme of the course: approaches to the skull base

6th International Course Hands-on approaches to the skull base
ICLO Lab / Nicola’s Foundation, Arezzo 7-9 October 2015
presented by

Luciano Mastronardi
Director of the Department of Neurological Surgery
San Filippo Neri Hospital, Rome – Italy

Learn from dead bodies to train new specialists of tomorrow. After the success of the hands-on courses organized since 2009 in Boras (Gothenburg, Sweden) and the 5th microsurgical basic International Course recently held at the Laboratory ICLO of Arezzo and in view of the great international request, I am pleased to announce the 6th “hands-on” International Course organized by the Didactic Group “FRIENDS” on skull base approaches.
It is a “three days workshop” reserved to specialists in neurosurgery of all ages from various countries of the world, which allows participants to understand and investigate the complex anatomy of the approaches to the base of the skull, performing dissections on human injected anatomical specimens. Being familiar with these approaches is needed to operate tumors and vascular diseases in areas difficult to reach at the base of the skull, in order to minimize errors in patients who risks the life.
FRIENDS is to mean: Fronting Neurosurgical Research in International Education and Development and Sophistication, but is of course a way to present a formula of friendly and relaxed teaching of difficult microsurgical cerebral anatomy.
APPEAL TO INSTITUTIONS – “A group of education for young neurosurgeons – says Prof. Luciano Mastronardi, Director UOC Neurosurgery, Hospital San Filippo Neri, Roma – for training on cadavers: a highly skilled team of specialists from all over Europe, of which I am the only Italian representative. The Director of this 6th “hands-on” skull base Course will be Prof. Luc De Waele, famous Belgian neurosurgeon of Ghent, a leading expert. Iver Langmoen, Arne Roos, Jon Ramm Patterson and me will have the role of co-directors. ”

As in the 5th Hands-On Course on basic Microsurgery, even in the next skull base course of anatomical dissection the teachers of FRIENDS group and the famous international “giant” of skull base surgery, our honoured guest Prof. Bernard George, will conduct lectures, practical demonstrations and tutor participants during anatomical dissection. All this took place in a peaceful and friendly enviroment. Many of the participants in the 5th Course basic microsurgical course have already reserved a place in the next course of October, having appreciated the teaching method marked on the practice and the “friendly” approach of the group FRIENDS.
COURSE – The course, which lasts three days, is characterized by lectures and practical exercises on anatomical specimens. The number of participants is limited to 18 neurosurgeons from many parts of the world, who will work on nine workstations. As a feature of our courses, microsurgical approaches will be performed at each station under the guidance of a tutor and with the demonstration of a teacher at the master table. The theoretical session is limited to what is necessary and every day at the end of the dissection will be shown what they have learned during the day in a summary section.
In particular, the course will cover the following surgical procedures: Fronto-Orbito-Zygomatic Approach, Cavernous Sinus dissection and Middle Cranial Fossa Approach to, Combined Petrosal Approach, Mastoidectomy, Retro and Trans-labyrinthine approach ELITE (Extreme Lateral Infrajugular Transtubercular Exposure ).

All neurosurgeons who are interested are welcome.

Luciano Mastronardi
FRIENDS co-founder

Gianni Sereni
ICLO Lab Manager

Surgical total removal of vestibular schwannoma (acoustic neuroma) through a “key-hole” retro-sigmoid approach, preserving the hearing is possible today in more than 2/3 of cases with a socially useful function. In order to obtain this result we must not wait that tumor continue to grow and damage the coclea nerve or make very difficult to save the nerve it if the hearing is still useful.
To make sure that the neurosurgeon is able to save your hearing, it is advisable to remove the tumor it exceeds 2 cm in diameter, otherwise it will be very difficult to have an acceptable postoperative hearing function.
About 66,6% of patients operated by our group with preoperative and postoperative socially useful hearing had a neuroma with an average maximum diameter of about 1,9 cm.
Our attention to this problem led us to develop a modern technique of intraoperative monitoring with auditory evoked potential of new generation (CE-Chirp) that makes easier to control cochlear nerve during surgery, allowing to preserve a preoperative useful hearing in many patients.
Today, surgery can give you a definitive solution to acoustic neuroma: we can cure it. In many cases maintaining a socially useful hearing.
If you value your hearing, please, don’t wait for the neuroma destroy it.

To learn more contact us.
Luciano Mastronardi – Roma

A course for Italian Neurosurgeons on the use of expansion screws and dynamic rods in osteoporotic patients operated for degenerative problems (stenosis, listesis) or lombar trauma was held on June 6th and 7th, 2013, at our Department, organized by neurosurgeons of S. Filippo Neri Hospital.
The Neurosurgery Department of the San Filippo Neri Hospital in Rome, together with the San Giovanni Hospital in Rome, coordinates a program of courses to promote this new technology for lumbar spine fixation in Italy, and which our department has been using for some time.
The Neurosurgery department of San Filippo Neri is one of the centers of reference in Italy for this technology, which allows to treat safely lombar disorders in osteoporotic patients and reduce immediate and further complications.

It is for me a great pleasure to inform you that in October 1,2 and 3, 2014 our International Association FRIENDS (Fronting Research & International Education in Neurosurgery Development and Sophistication) will organize a hands-on dissection course (cadaver lab) in Microneurosurgery (Basic Neurosurgical Approaches: see alleged brochure). As you can see, we are anInternational faculty board, from five different European Countries.

We would like to invite any resident in Neurosurgery and young staff Neurosurgeons from all over the World to attend the course.

The fee is 1600 Euros+VAT (22%), including:

3-day course in the lab, dissection with real surgical microscope, drills, instruments, suction, very well injected and tested cadaver heads (two surgeons each head), informatic support, book, lunches and dinners, and 4-star hotel accomodation just in front of the Cadaver Lab (www.iclo.eu). That is, everything except for flight tickets.

FRIENDS will organize a second course during next spring 2015, on skull base surgery techniques (always in the same cadaver lab in Arezzo).

Our courses, arranged during the last years in Boras, Sweden, are attended by neurosurgeons of all over the world (Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, South America) and have obtained a great reputation.

If some young Neurosurgeon is interested in this course and in future FRIENDS courses please send an email to me and to Mr Gianni Sereni (), Chief of lab administration.

Waiting for meeting many of you, I send my personal best regards.
Luciano Mastronardi

Attachments :
Course brochure

A new attachment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYhuc2imIfY&feature=youtu.be