Maani Walid S
Department of Special surgery, Section of Neurosurgery, The Medical School, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
World Neurosurg. 2025 Jun;198:124033. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2025.124033. Epub 2025 May 8.
The "Levant," or "Bilad al-Sham" in Arabic, is a part of the Arab world in the Middle East extending along the shores of the eastern Mediterranean, bordered to the north by Anatolia (modern Turkey), to the west by the Mediterranean sea and Egypt, to the east by Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), and to the south by the Arabian Peninsula. In the Middle Ages and before, this area saw the rise of great physicians and the development of major hospitals. The names of a few of those great surgeons and their landmark books, and those of some of the magnificent hospitals of the era, are chronicled. This article tries to trace the development of neurosurgery in this region and outline the differences in how this specialty developed in the four political entities that are located in the area, namely Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria. Light is shed on the educational institutions that helped in the development of physicians and how the specialty of neurosurgery started, and the pioneer neurosurgeons. Special emphases are placed upon tracking how neurosurgical training and residency programs started in these countries, placing this in the context of some health data and statistics about each country and relating that to the percentage of gross domestic product dedicated to health. The national neurosurgical societies' history is outlined as well as the regional and international connections. A factual description of the state of neurosurgical practice in the Levant is detailed.
“黎凡特”，阿拉伯语称为“Bilad al-Sham”，是中东阿拉伯世界的一部分，沿着地中海东部海岸延伸，北与安纳托利亚（现代土耳其）接壤，西临地中海和埃及，东接美索不达米亚（现代伊拉克），南与阿拉伯半岛相邻。在中世纪及以前，该地区涌现出了伟大的医生，并发展起了大型医院。文中记载了一些伟大外科医生的名字及其具有里程碑意义的著作，以及那个时代一些宏伟医院的情况。本文试图追溯该地区神经外科的发展历程，概述神经外科在该地区四个政治实体（即约旦、黎巴嫩、巴勒斯坦和叙利亚）的发展差异。文中阐述了助力医生培养的教育机构，以及神经外科专业如何起步和早期的神经外科医生。特别着重追踪这些国家神经外科培训和住院医师项目的起始情况，并将其置于每个国家的一些健康数据和统计数据背景下，同时关联到用于卫生保健的国内生产总值百分比。文中还概述了各国神经外科学会的历史以及地区和国际联系。详细介绍了黎凡特地区神经外科实践现状的实际情况。
