====== 1954 ======

[[1953]]-[[1955]]
----
[[Traumatic central cord syndrome]], originally described by Schneider et al
((Schneider RC, Cherry G, Pantek H. The Syndrome of
Acute Central Cervical Spinal Cord Injury. J
Neurosurg. 1954; 11:546–577))
in [[1954]]. 
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A [[spinal cord subependymoma]] (SCSE) is a benign, non-invasive, slow-growing, [[WHO Grade I]] [[spinal cord tumor]]
((Im SH, Paek SH, Choi YL, Chi JG, Kim DG, Jung HW, Cho BK. Clinicopathological 
study of seven cases of symptomatic supratentorial subependymoma. J Neurooncol.
2003 Jan;61(1):57-67. PubMed PMID: 12587796.
)),
first reported by Boykin et al. in [[1954]].
((BOYKIN FC, COWEN D, IANNUCCI CA, WOLF A. Subependymal glomerate astrocytomas. 
J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 1954 Jan;13(1):30-49. PubMed PMID: 13118373.
)).
----
Jelsma
((Dowd GC, Molony TB, Voorhies RM. Spontaneous otogenic pneumocephalus. Case
report and review of the literature. J Neurosurg. 1998 Dec;89(6):1036-9. Review. 
PubMed PMID: 9833834.
))
((JELSMA F, MOORE DF. Cranial aerocele. Am J Surg. 1954 Mar;87(3):437-51. PubMed
PMID: 13124659.
))
((Krayenbühl N, Alkadhi H, Jung HH, Yonekawa Y. Spontaneous otogenic
intracerebral pneumocephalus: case report and review of the literature. Eur Arch 
Otorhinolaryngol. 2005 Feb;262(2):135-8. PubMed PMID: 15004711.
))
was the first to give a description of subdural spontaneous pneumocephalus in [[1954]].
----
Since the end of the nineteenth century, the wide dissemination of [[Pott's disease]] has ignited debates about which should be the ideal route to perform ventrolateral [[decompression]] of the dorsal rachis in case of [[paraplegia]] due to [[spinal cord compression]] in tuberculosis [[spondylitis]]. It was immediately clear that the optimal approach should be the one minimizing the surgical manipulation on both neural and extra-neural structures, while optimizing the exposure and surgical maneuverability on the target area. The first attempt was reported by Victor Auguste Menard in [[1894]]
((Ménard V. Causes de la paraplégie dans le mal de
Pott. Son traitement chirurgical par l’ouverture
directe du foyer tuberculeux des vertebres. Rev
Orthop 1894; 5: 47-64.))
, who described, for the first time, a completely different route from traditional [[laminectomy]], called [[costotransversectomy]]. The technique was conceived to drain tubercular paravertebral abscesses causing paraplegia without manipulating the spinal cord. 

The [[procedure]] defined by Capener in [[1954]] 
((CAPENER N. The evolution of lateral rhachotomy. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 1954 May;36-B(2):173-9. doi: 10.1302/0301-620X.36B2.173. PMID: 13163099.))
resulted in better results for the treatment of [[spinal tuberculosis]], due to the effect of [[antibiotic]]s
((Benzel EC. Spine Surgery: Techniques,
Complication Avoidance, and Management, 3th
Ed. Saunders, Philadelphia 2012.)).
----
The Division of Neurosurgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham was formally founded in [[1954]] under the leadership of James Garber Galbraith. The following 60 years would see neurosurgery at the forefront of the development of a nationally recognized medical center in the heart of Birmingham, Alabama. The Department of Neurosurgery now employs 14 faculty members, performs more than 4500 neurosurgical [[procedure]]s annually, is active in clinical and laboratory research, and boasts a contemporary, comprehensive residency training program
((Foreman PM, Markert JM, Diethelm AG, Hadley MN. The history of neurosurgery at
the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Neurosurgery. 2014 Oct;75(4):483-7;
discussion 487-8. doi: 10.1227/NEU.0000000000000464. PubMed PMID: 24932710.
)).