Gazi Yaşargil, M.D.

Prof. Dr. Gazi Yaşargil

Prof. Gazi Yaşargil, M.D.

Neurosurgery

Yeditepe University Koşuyolu Hospital

Faculty and Graduation Year

Basel University, 1949

E-Mail

[email protected]

Academic Life

  • 1960 - 1964 Associate professor of neurosurgery
  • 1965 - 1973 Assistant professor of neurosurgery
  • April 1, 1973 - December 31, 1992 Ordinary Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Zurich
  • 1974 - 1976 President of the Swiss Association of Neurosurgeons
  • August 1994 - October 2013 Professor of Neurosurgery UAMS (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences)
  • November 2013 Yeditepe University Istanbul, Professor of Neurosurgery

Career Summary

  • Prof. Dr. M. Gazi Yaşargil was born on July 6, 1925 in Lice, Diyarbakır, where his father served as a district governor. The same year, the family moved to Ankara and the five siblings went to school in Ankara. Gazi graduated from the classical department of Atatürk High School, where Latin was taught, in May 1943. In the fall of 1943, he began his medical studies at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena-Thüringen, Germany. After two semesters, in March 1945, he moved to Switzerland. He continued his medical studies at the University of Basel and graduated in the fall of 1949. For three months he studied brain anatomy at the Institute of Anatomy under Dr. Josef Klingler. After working as an assistant in neurology-psychiatry, internal medicine and general surgery for one year each between 1950 and 1953, he completed his residency in neurosurgery at the University of Zurich in January 1953 under Prof. H. Krayenbühl and Prof. G. Weber. In 1960 he became an associate professor, in 1965 a professor, in 1973 an ordinarius professor and served as director of the same clinic until 1993.
  • In addition to routine neurosurgical work at the Neurosurgery Clinic of the University of Zürich, he performed cerebral angiography for the first 12 years (1953-1965) and stereotactic surgery for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders in 1957-1965.  In Zürich, with the help of neurophysiologist Prof. Oscar Wyss, he used the high-frequency coagulation technique for the first time and this technique was accepted globally.
  • Between October 1965 and December 1966, he learned microvascular surgery in the animal laboratory at the University of Burlington-Vermont in the USA under Prof. M.P.R. Donaghy and the operating nurse Mrs. Jackie Robert and applied this technique for the first time in animal brain vessels (500-1000 microns in diameter).
  • In January 1967, he returned to the Zürich Clinic for Neurosurgery and began using microtechnics and the cisternal opening method in all brain and spinal cord surgery. This technique was routinely used for revascularization of the brain, aneurysms, AVMs, cavernomas, extra-axial and intra-axial cerebrospinal tumors and temporal epilepsy surgery, opening a new era in neurosurgery. He founded the microsurgery laboratory in Zurich and taught microsurgery techniques to more than 3000 surgeons from five continents between 1968 and 1993.
  • He retired as chief of the Neurosurgery Clinic at the University of Zurich in January 1993. In October 1994, he was given a professorship at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, USA, where there is no age limit. In this hospital, he performed surgeries, gave lectures, published, established a microneurosurgery laboratory and prepared microneurosurgery courses. He retired from Arkansas University in October 2013.
  • Since November 2013, Professor Yaşargil has been continuing his surgical studies, lectures, conferences, laboratory studies and professional publications at Yeditepe University Faculty of Medicine.
  • Microsurgery laboratories have been established under Professor Yaşargil's name in Oxford-UK, Little Rock-USA and Beijing-China. The University of Arkansas honored his work by establishing the "Yaşargil Chair" and holding the "Gazi and Dianne Yaşargil Annual Conference".
  • In November 2014, the Swiss Medical Faculty of Zurich initiated the "Annual Yaşargil" conferences, honoring Yaşargil's work and contributions at the University of Zurich.

Vocational Training

  • January 1944 - February 1945, Friedrich von Schiller University Medical School Jena, Germany (two semesters)
  • May 1945 -September 1949, Basel University Medical School, Switzerland (10 semesters)
  • September - December 1949, research in brain anatomy at the anatomy department of the University of Basel
  • March 2, 1950, University of Basel, Doctor of Medicine Diploma
  • March 15, 1950- May 15, 1951, Psychiatry assistant, Münsingen, Bern, (Switzerland)
  • May 16, 1951 - December 30, 1951, Internal medicine assistant at the hospital in Interlaken, (Switzerland)
  • January 1, 1951 - December 15, 1952, general surgery resident at the hospital in Interlaken, (Switzerland)
  • December 15, 1957 - April 15, 1965, Chief Assistant
  • January 4, 1953 - December 14, 1957, Neurosurgery clinic assistant at the University of Zurich
  • October 25, 1965 - January 4, 1967, microvascular surgery laboratory research (Professor R.M.P. Donaghy) at the Department of Neurosurgery, University of Vermont at Burlington (Burlington, USA)
  • January 1967 - April 1973 Associate Professor, application of microtechniques in the laboratory and clinic at the neurosurgical clinic of the University of Zurich
  • April 16, 1973 - January 1, 1993, Ordinary Professor and Chair of Neurosurgery at the University of Zurich
  • January 1, 1993 Retired from the Neurosurgery Clinic of the University of Zurich at the age limit.
  • October 1994 to October 2013 Little Rock ARKANSAS
  • Professor of neurosurgery at UAMS (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences)
  • November 2013 Istanbul, Yeditepe University Hospital, Professor of Neurosurgery

Laboratory Courses

  • Sydney, Australia
  • Newyork, Cincinnati, San Francisco, St. Louis, Little Rock (USA),
  • Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya, (Japan)
  • Peking, Xiang, (China)
  • Taipei (Taiwan)
  • BRASILIA, Sao Paulo (Brasilia)
  • Yeditepe Istanbul (Turkey)
  • Tutlingen (Germany)
  • Zurich (Switzerland)
  • Taipei, Taiwan, Nagoya (Japan)

Conferences

  • 1978 H.Olivecrona Conference Stockholm, Sweden
  • 1981 Wilder Penfield conference Calgary, Canada
  • 1984 William Cone Conference Montreal, Canada
  • 1985 Hollins conference New York, USA
  • 1985 J.Bonnal Memorial Day Brussels, Belgium
  • 1987 Sixto Obrador Conference Madrid, Spain
  • 1989 Stanley Gore Conference Zermatt, Switzerland
  • 1990 W.Dandy conference Baltimore, USA
  • 1990 II Egaz Moniz Conference Lisbon, Portugal
  • 1991RMP Donaghy Conference New Orleans, USA
  • 1993 Charles Drake Conference Charlottesville, USA
  • 1994 European Lecture, EANS Kuipo, Finland
  • 1996 Wilder Penfield Conference London, Ontario, Canada
  • 1997 E.H. Botterel Conference Toronto, Canada
  • 1999 Charles Drake Conference London, Ontario, Canada
  • 2000 Gurdijan Conference Detroit, USA
  • 2000 George T. Tindall Conference Atlanta, USA
  • 2000 Mayfield Conference Cincinati, USA
  • 2000 Greenwood Conference Galveston, USA
  • 2001 Bennett-Tarkington Conf. Evanston, USA
  • 2002 Puussep Conference Tartu, Estonia
  • 2003 Theodor Kurze Conference San Diego, USA
  • 2004 First Zeiss Lecture Frankfurt, Germany
  • 2005 Kuske Conference Irvine Unv. CA, USA
  • 2005 N.H and J.A Pracky Lecture Washington D.C
  • 2008 Swami Dayananda Lecture Calcuta, India
  • 2008 Gardner Lecture Cleveland, USA
  • 2011 Rasmüssen Lecture Montreal, Canada
  • 2011 L. MALI Lecture Detroit, USA
  • 2011 First Yaşargil Lecture Denver, USA
  • 2012 First Yaşargil Lecture Antalya, Turkey
  • 2014 South East Europe Neuroscience Congress, Skopje-Macedonia
  • 2014 Konya Selçuk University Opening Speech
  • 2014 Izmir Ege University Opening Speech
  • September 2014 Yeditepe University
  • 2014 October Turkish Medical World Congress
  • 2014 December UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH, Launch of the Annual YAŞARGİL "Lecture"
  • 2014 TÜBA 46 years Inaugural Conference

Publications

With 13 being Monograph, out of 340 publishings;

  • 1957 Roentgenologic diagnosis of exophtalmus unilateralis (German)
  • 1957 Vascular diseases of the vertebral and basilar arteries (German)
  • 1958 Cerebral aneurysm (German)
  • 1962 Vertebral angiography (German)
  • 1965 Cerebral angiography (German)
  • 1967 Micro - Vascular Surgery (English)
  • 1968 Cerebral angiography (English)
  • 1969 Microsurgery applied to neurosurgery (UK)
  • 1984 Microsurgery Volume I: Intracranial Aneurysms (English)
  • 1984 Microsurgery Volume II: Intracranial Aneurysms (English)
  • 1987 Microneurosurgery Volume IIIA: Brain AVM (English)
  • 1987 Microsurgery Volume IIIB: Brain AVM (English)
  • 1994 Central Nervous System Tumors (English)
  • Microsurgery Volume IVA:
  • Microsurgery Volume IVB:
  • 1996 Central Nervous System Tumors

Honorary Medical Doctor

  • 1990 Ankara University Ibni Sina Hospital
  • 1991 Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty Hospital
  • 1999 University of Lima, Peru
  • 2000 Hacettepe University
  • 2014 Izmir Ege University

Honorary Professor

  • 1990 Ibni Sina University, Ankara, Turkey
  • 1991 Cerrahpaşa University, Istanbul, Ankara
  • 1993 Honorary Neurosurgery Prof. Yasargil, University of Zurich
  • 1999 Univercity of Lima, Peru
  • 2000 Hacettepe University Ankara, Turkey
  • 2001 Capital University of Medical Sciences Beijing, China
  • 2001 Fourth medical university, Xian, China
  • 2003 University of Tartu, Tartu - Estonia
  • 2003 Ondokuz Mayıs University Samsun, Turkey
  • 2003 Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
  • 2005 Moscow, Burdenko University
  • 2013 UAMS, Little Rock Arkansas (USA)

Microneurosurgery Courses in Other Centers (1967 - 2014)

Visiting professorship at universities in 5 continents, lectures on microsurgical techniques and anatomy to the younger generation of neurosurgeons and medical students. Annual conference at Chicago for Residents Rewiev Course Chicago, USA (1994-2013)

Microneurosurgery Operations in Other Hospitals

  • Cape Town South Africa 1970
  • Boston, MGH, USA 1972
  • Barcelona, Madrid, Seville (Spain) 1973
  • Mexico City, Mexico 1973
  • Lucerne, Bern, St. Gallen (Switzerland) 1993
  • Bonn, (Germany) 1994
  • Helsinki, (Finland) (2001, 2002, 2003)
  • Beijing and Xian (China) (2001, 2003)

Microsurgery Laboratories Established in the Name of YASARGIL

  • Radclife Royal Infarmary, Oxford, England
  • Capitol University Hospital, Beijing, China
  • University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little rock, arkansas USA

Memberships

  • 1976 Brazilian medical academy
  • 1977 Society of Neurological Surgeons, USA
  • 1979 American Heart Association Dallas Texas, USA
  • 1981 Canadian Neurosurgical Society
  • 1986 Congress of Neurological Surgeons (USA)
  • 1987 Japanese Neurosurgical Society, Neurosurgeon Association
  • 1989 Harvey Cushing Foundation, (USA)
  • 1989 Swiss Society of Neuroradiology,
  • 1990 Royal Society of Medicine London Section Nephrology Royal Society of Medicine London Section Nephrology
  • 1990 Turkish Neurosurgical Society
  • 1990 International Skull Base Society (ISBS)
  • 1993 Swiss Neurosurgical Society
  • 1994 Argentine Neurosurgical Society
  • 1998 American Society of Neuroradiology
  • 1999 Peruvian Neurosurgical Society
  • 2000 Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA)
  • 2000 Italian Neurosurgical Society
  • 2002 Hong Kong Neurosurgical Society
  • 2004 Georgia Neurosurgical Society (USA)
  • 2004 Polish Neurosurgical Society
  • 2006 Turkish-American scientists and scholars association
  • 2006 Postugal Neurosurgical Society
  • 2006 Taiwan Neurosurgical Society
  • 2008 Greek Neurosurgical Society

Place and Year of Specialization

Zürich University, 1953

Place and Year of PhD Associate Professorship

Zürich University, 1960

Professorship Place and Year

1965- Professor, 1973 - Ordinarius Professor

Studying Abroad

University of Basel, University of Zurich, University of Burlington-Vermont

Foreign Languages

EnglishGerman