Dissecting a complex neurosurgical illustration: step-by-step development.

Modern computer graphics software has enabled the medical illustrator to render very complex anatomy by composing many different layers of drawings simultaneously. This and the author's capacity to take an "editorial" approach to compress several chronological events into a single, comprehensive two-dimensional illustration are analyzed in a step-by-step process. Through a series of images, the article provides a visual synopsis of the development of an illustration for an extensive clinical case: total sacrectomy performed through an all-posterior approach. Originally given as a slide presentation at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Theodore Kurze Lecture in April 2011, the article provides some detailed notes on the techniques the author used to develop a comprehensive neurosurgical illustration.