M. Gazi Yaşargil: Neurosurgery's man of the century.

Abstract

Dissatisfied with the available macrosurgical techniques and encouraged by colleagues such as Donaghy and Krayenbühl, M. Gazi Yaşargil possessed the ingenuity to take advantage of and further improve emerging technologies such as angiography to develop microsurgery. To enable the advancement of microsurgical techniques, Yaşargil created innovative instrumentation, such as the floating microscope, the self-retaining adjustable retractor, microsurgical instruments, and ergonomic aneurysm clips and appliers. His genius in developing microsurgical techniques for use in cerebrovascular neurosurgery has transformed the outcomes of patients with conditions that were previously inoperable.