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The COVID-19 pandemic - the likes of which no healthcare provider has experienced in recent decades - has catapulted our society in un- charted territory. As countless people got infected, a sustained and dra- matic increase in demand for healthcare ensued. Scarcity arose when demand exceeded the availability of healthcare resources. This applies to the financial, logistical and “architectural” constraints of the healthcare system, as well as its most valuable inelastic asset of skilled care pro- viders and supporting staff (Myles and Maswime, 2020; World Health Organization, 2020). As governments and hospital administrators across the globe mustered resources to combat the influx of COVID-19 cases in March and April of 2020, many neurosurgeons saw their working conditions dras- tically altered. Whilst some were redeployed as first-line workers, the majority was forced to postpone or cancel elective surgeries. Several government agencies and professional organisations such as the ACS and EANS, issued recommendations regarding triaging and scheduling of elective surgeries (American College of Surgeons, 2020; Belgian Society of Neurosurgery, 2020; European Association of Neurosurgical Societies, 2020). Notwithstanding efforts to preserve essential supplies, scarcity has prompted several ethical questions regarding the allocation and distribution of healthcare-related resources (White and Lo, 2020). We aimed to survey neurosurgical practice and ethical attitudes during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic on. We explored whether consensus exists amongst neurosurgeons as to what substitutes an essential intervention with regard to restrictions on elective surgeries. Also, we examined how neuro-ethical decision-making was influenced by the ongoing pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: The white matter structure of the anterior temporal lobe and the frontotemporal region is complex and not well appreciated from the available neurosurgical literature. The fiber dissection method is an excellent means of attaining a thorough knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of the white matter tracts. This study was performed to demonstrate the usefulness of the dissection technique in understanding the white matter anatomy and the effects of current surgical approaches on the subcortical structure of the region. METHODS: Seventeen brain specimens obtained at routine autopsy were dissected by use of Klingler's fiber dissection technique after preparation by fixation and freezing. The dissections were performed with an operating microscope and followed a stepwise pattern of progressive white matter dissection. RESULTS: The dissection is described in an orderly fashion showing the white matter tracts of the anterior temporal lobe and the frontotemporal region. An insight is gained into the three-dimensional course of the anterior loop of the optic radiation, the temporal stem, the anterior commissure, and the ansa peduncularis. CONCLUSION: The anterior temporal lobe and the frontotemporal region contain several important white matter tracts that can be uniquely understood by performing a white matter dissection of the region. Surgical procedures on the anterior temporal lobe differ substantially as to their repercussions on the subcortical white matter tract anatomy, as shown by the findings in this study.