History
The beginnings of neurosurgery in Debrecen are closely associated with the work of Kálmán Sántha (1903–1956); the first neurosurgical operation was performed in 1949. For several decades neurosurgical activity was carried out within the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, until the Department of Neurosurgery became an independent department on the 1st of February 1987.
Activities, Fields of Expertise and Equipment
Today, the Department of Neurosurgery of the Clinical Centre, University of Debrecen serves as a regional referral centre providing neurosurgical care for more than 1.5 million inhabitants, while also receiving patients from abroad. More than 2,200 surgical procedures are performed annually. In addition to continuous outpatient services, inpatient care is provided with 33 general neurosurgical beds and 8 neurointensive care beds, with particular attention to the needs of patients and their families. The treatment of oncological diseases is coordinated by a multidisciplinary neuro-oncology team involving several specialties.
The full spectrum of cranial and spinal neurosurgical procedures is available for adult as well as paediatric patients, including infants and children. The department is actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate education, including residency and PhD training. Our staff members contribute to the scientific life of the university and participate in national and international research collaborations.
In addition to standard neurosurgical procedures, the department offers a number of specialised interventions:
- surgical treatment of brain and spinal cord tumours
- paediatric neurosurgical procedures
- complex spinal surgery (scoliosis correction, spinal tumours)
- treatment of vascular lesions by microsurgical or endovascular techniques (aneurysms, AV malformations, AV fistulas, cavernomas)
- skull base surgery (including endoscopic transnasal procedures, microvascular decompression and minimally invasive neurosurgical techniques)
- transventricular neuroendoscopic procedures
- functional neurosurgery (deep brain stimulation for movement disorders, neuromodulation for pain syndromes, treatment of spasticity by selective dorsal rhizotomy or implantable drug delivery systems, epilepsy surgery)
- Gamma Knife radiosurgery
High-quality surgical care is supported by advanced technical infrastructure. The department is equipped with operating microscopes, multimodal neuronavigation integrating PET, tractography and functional MRI data, intraoperative ultrasound, ultrasonic aspirator (CUSA), ultrasonic bone scalpel, and intraoperative electrophysiological monitoring, all of which further improve the precision and safety of neurosurgical procedures.