Cerebral revascularization dates back to 1953 when Conley performed the first reported saphenous vein graft (SVG) bypass of the cervical internal carotid artery (ICA) for a tumor of the neck 1). In 1971, Lougheed and colleagues performed the first long-segment saphenous vein graft (SVG) bypass from the common carotid to the intracranial ICA 2).

Fisch and associates 3) and Glassock and coworkers 4) pioneered direct vein graft reconstruction of the petrous segment or internal carotid artery C2 segment.

Sekhar and colleagues 5) and Spetzler and associates 6) both described SVG bypass of the petrous to supraclinoid carotid artery.

Although first described in the setting of cervical neoplasms, cerebral revascularization was primarily developed for the prevention of stroke in chronic cerebral ischemia due to carotid artery stenosis. This practice flourished through the Superficial temporal artery to middle cerebral artery bypass (STA-MCA) bypass until it peaked in 1985, when the EC/IC Bypass Study Group 7)

1)
CONLEY JJ. Free autogenous vein graft to the internal and common carotid arteries in the treatment of tumors of the neck. Ann Surg. 1953 Feb;137(2):205-14. doi: 10.1097/00000658-195302000-00009. PMID: 13017520; PMCID: PMC1802458.
2)
Lougheed WM, Marshall BM, Hunter M, Michel ER, Sandwith-Smyth H. Common carotid to intracranial internal carotid bypass venous graft. Technical note. J Neurosurg. 1971 Jan;34(1):114-8. doi: 10.3171/jns.1971.34.1.0114. PMID: 5539642.
3)
Fisch UP, Oldring DJ, Senning A. Surgical therapy of internal carotid artery lesions of the skull base and temporal bone. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg (1979). 1980 Sep-Oct;88(5):548-54. doi: 10.1177/019459988008800507. PMID: 6255398.
4)
Glassock ME 3rd, Smith PG, Bond AG, Whitaker SR, Bartels LJ. Management of aneurysms of the petrous portion of the internal carotid artery by resection and primary anastomosis. Laryngoscope. 1983 Nov;93(11 Pt 1):1445-53. PMID: 6633117.
5)
Sekhar LN, Sen CN, Jho HD. Saphenous vein graft bypass of the cavernous internal carotid artery. J Neurosurg. 1990 Jan;72(1):35-41. doi: 10.3171/jns.1990.72.1.0035. PMID: 2294182.
6)
Spetzler RF, Fukushima T, Martin N, Zabramski JM. Petrous carotid-to-intradural carotid saphenous vein graft for intracavernous giant aneurysm, tumor, and occlusive cerebrovascular disease. J Neurosurg. 1990 Oct;73(4):496-501. doi: 10.3171/jns.1990.73.4.0496. PMID: 2398379.
7)
EC/IC Bypass Study Group. Failure of extracranial-intracranial arterial bypass to reduce the risk of ischemic stroke. Results of an international randomized trial. N Engl J Med. 1985 Nov 7;313(19):1191-200. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198511073131904. PMID: 2865674.