A brief history of tumour surgery of the cerebello-pontine angle

The history of surgery of the cerebello-pontine angle (CPA) in Australia is closely linked to the name of Frank Ellis, who, in 1962, along with his colleague John Tonkin, introduced the microscope to the surgery of this area. The fame of Frank Ellis continues in Los Angeles, where, on any visit, it is hard not to be reminded that it was he who gave the name Bill's Bar to the then unnamed vertical peg of bone lying in the lateral end of the internal auditory canal separating the facial nerve in front from the superior vestibular nerve behind. It is with tumour surgery of the cerebello-pontine angle that this Frank Ellis Memorial Oration is primarily concerned. In this historical review, the authors have drawn heavily on the opening four chapters of 'Acoustic Tumours', edited by House and Luetje. It should be mentioned that 'Acoustic tumour' is a time hallowed name, preferred by these authors, for the condition now frequently referred to as 'vestibular neuroma', in the belief that the tumour arises in the vestibular nerve. The evidence is not conclusive, given that many tumours involve both vestibular and cochlear divisions of the VIIIth nerve.