History of the Neurosurgery Department of Pontificia Universidad Catolica, Santiago, Chile

Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile's medical school was founded in 1929. An interest in neurosurgical development arose in the minds of the Dean, Dr. Cristobal Espildora, and the Chief of Surgery, Dr. Rodolfo Rencoret, in 1946. They encouraged and supported Dr. J. Ricardo Olivares to specialize in Neurosurgery with Professor H. Olivecrona in Stockholm, Sweden. The first neurosurgical procedure in the Hospital Clinico de la Universidad Catolica was performed in 1950. Since then, intensive efforts have been made to develop neurosurgery and its science. As a result, it is now a center capable of achieving high-quality standards in vascular, oncologic, and endoscopic neurosurgery; stereotactic and radiosurgery; complex spine surgery; pediatric neurosurgery; and epilepsy surgery. This article tells the story of a university hospital neurosurgery service in a country at the southern end of the world and how it became one of the most important neurosurgical centers in Chile and South America.