title: Endoscopic navigation of the fourth ventricle. Technical note and preliminary experience.
abstract: Transaqueductal navigation of the fourth ventricle has long been considered dangerous and of no clinical relevance. After the refinement of the endoscopic technique and supported by the extensive experience gained at the authors' institution since 1994, endoscopic exploration of the fourth ventricle has been performed by the same surgeon in 54 patients. In all cases reviewed, endoscopic navigation of the fourth ventricle was successfully performed with no related neurological deficit. This preliminary experience shows the feasibility of transaqueductal navigation of the fourth ventricle, which is made possible by the use of small, flexible endoscopes in expert hands.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Treviso Regional Hospital, University of Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Pierluigi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Longatti
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Basaldella
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Feletti
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fiorindi
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Billeci
mesh_terms: D002535:Cerebral Aqueduct / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000601:surgery; D019723:Endoscopes / Q000592:standards; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D020546:Fourth Ventricle / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D038361:Neuronavigation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014696:Ventriculostomy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends