The future of neurosurgery

Summary Many factors influence the future of neurosurgery, among them the general growth of the world population with an increasing number of older persons and the political-economical development which differs markedly from region to region.Another important factor will be the biological and molecular revolution which has just begun and makes it likely, that some of the pathologies, which needed neurosurgical management, become accessable to conservative treatment in the future.Finally the neurosurgical sphere of activity is endangered by takeover tendencies of neighbouring medical specialties.Those of us who are in charge of neurosurgical organization and planning should take these and additional factors into consideration early enough, in order to give neurosurgery and neurosurgeons a chance to adapt to the future.Invited Lecture, presented at the European Congress of Neurosurgery, Moscow, June 23–28, 1991.