History and state of neurosurgery in Austria.

Abstract

Although surgeons in Austria, especially in Vienna, were counted among the leading specialists at the end of the 19th century, neurosurgery did not evolve as a distinct discipline before the turn of the century; achievements were episodic until Anton von Eiselsberg became an enthusiastic surgeon of the central nervous system at the beginning of the 20th century. On the threshold of modern microneurosurgery, he was succeeded in Vienna by Leopold Schönbauer and then by Herbert Kraus. Although Schönbauer kept a certain distance from neurosurgery before World War II, a special department of neurosurgery was founded at the University of Graz Medical Faculty in 1950. In contrast, it was not until 1964 that Kraus founded the first department of neurosurgery at the University of Vienna Medical Faculty, later followed by the one at Innsbruck. War injuries involving the brain during both World Wars I and II also had considerable impact on further progress in brain and spine surgery in Austria. At present, Austria harbors three university departments of neurosurgery (Vienna, Graz, and Innsbruck) and three more departments at community hospitals, in addition to four at state hospitals. Each is equipped with modern devices, including the capacity for radiosurgery in five institutions. In 1954, a scientific society was founded, but neurosurgery was not established as a distinct specialty in medicine in Austria until 1976.