Perspectives in pediatric neurosurgery

The new millennium beckons for novel advances in the diagnosis and treatmen t of pediatric neurosurgical conditions. Almost every aspect of pediatric n eurosurgery has changed over the last decade. Undoubtedly with the applicat ion of knowledge in molecular biology to human disease many aspects of neur osurgery, especially neuro-oncology and the field of neuro-developmental an omalies, will change appreciably over the next decade. Overall, the trend i n surgery in general and neurosurgery in particular is toward less invasive procedures and possibly non-surgical interventions. This review will brief ly cover many of the important areas of pediatric neurosurgery. We will des cribe the state-of-the-art of our subspecialty and discuss possible future directions.