History of ISGNE

The International Study Group on Neuroendoscopy (ISGNE)

Giuseppe Cinalli, Enrico de Divitiis, Giuseppe Maggi
Department of Neurosurgery,
Federico II University, Naples, Italy

The International Study Group on Neuroendoscopy (ISGNE) was created under the impulse and pioneering work of Professor Bernhard Bauer and Professor Shizuo Oi in October 2001. Neuroendoscopy is not a new technique: the earliest experiences and the rudiments of the technique date back to the 1920s and 1930s with the work of J. Mixter, W. Dandy and T.J. Putnam. Significant and important experiences were also accumulated in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s by G. Guiot, J.E. Scarff, T. Fukushima, H.B. Griffith, J.K. Vries, J. Camaert, M. Gaab and M. Apuzzo, but the real impulse and widespread acceptance occurred in the early 1990s with the publication of the work of R. Jones, K. Oka, B. Bauer, D. Hellwig,C. Teo, C. Sainte-Rose and J.M. Drake. In the second half of the 1990s the number of papers addressing neuroendoscopic techniques increased dramatically, and the neuroendoscope became a staple part of the armamentarium of most neurosurgeons all over the world.

The original indications for neuroendoscopy in the treatment of hydrocephalus were expanded by A. Perneczky with endoscopic assistance during microsurgical procedures, by H.D. Jho,E. de Divitiis and P. Cappabianca in transsphenoidal surgery and by many other authors more recently for the treatment of cervical, thoracic and lumbar disc herniation, spine instability and deformity, scoliosis and palmar hyperhidrosis. But with the enthusiasm and the diffusion of the techniques came the criticisms. The lack of prospective, randomised studies and the tendency in the literature to underestimate the complications of neuroendoscopy were significant obstacles to the progress of the technique. It was high time, using Bernhard Bauer's words, to "rally the troops", understand the level of our knowledge, establish uniform criteria for the definition of outcome, organise prospective studies and try to define the directions of research. Shizuo Oi realised the Founding Members Meeting and the First World Conference on Neuroendoscopy of the ISGNE, which took place in Awaji Yumbutai International Conference Center in Japan on 21-23 October 2001. This event was indeed a great success. Under the honorary presidency of Professor Madjid Samii, Bernhard Bauer was the first chairman and Shizuo Oi the first secretary of the ISGNE.The 16 founding members were Bernhard Bauer, Ming-Fu Chiang, Joong Uhn Choi, Giuseppe Cinalli, Shlomi Constantini, Tomokatsu Hori, Robert Jones, Masami Kamio, Joong-Ki Kang, Takeshi Kawase, Kirn Manwaring, Shizuo Oi, Jonathan Punt, Madjid Samii, Charles Teo and Tai-Tong Wong.

INTERNATIONAL STUDY GROUP ON NEUROENDOSCOPY FOUNDED 2001

Honorary President
Madjid Samii (Hannover, Germany)

President
Bernhard L. Bauer (Hannover, Germany)

Secretary:
Shizuo Oi (Tokio, Japan)

Founding members:
AUSTRALIA: Robert FC Jones (Sidney), Charles Teo (Sidney)
GERMANY: Bernhard L. Bauer (Hannover), Madjid Samii (Hannover)
ISRAEL: Shlomi Constantini (Tel Aviv)
ITALY: Giuseppe Cinalli (Naples)
JAPAN: Tomokatsu Hori, Masami Kamio, Takeshi Kawase, Shizuo Oi (Tokio)
KOREA: Joong Uhn Choi (Seoul), Joon Ki Kang (Seoul)
REPUBLIC OF CHINA: Tai-Tong-Wong, Ming-Fu Chinag (Taipei)
UK: Jonathan Punt (Nottingham)
USA: Kim Manwaring (Phoenix)

Events:
First World Conference:
Awaji International Park City, Hyogo, Japan, October 21-23, 2001

Second World Conference:
Castel dell'Ovo, Naples, Italy, September 11-13, 2003

Third World Conference:
Marburg, Germany, June 15-18, 2005