(Honorary)

1908-1986

LARS LEKSELL was born in Sweden in 1908. He received his basic medical education at the Karolinska Institute. His neurosurgical training began in 1935, under Professor Herbert Olivecrona at the Serafirmerlasarettet, even then known as a neurosurgical mecca. Other students training with him included Olof Sjoquist and Gosta Norlen. Early in his training, Leksell became interested in stereotaxic surgery, and he pursued this interest throughout his active career. In 1949, he described a stereotaxic apparatus for intracerebral surgery in humans. The Leksell stereotaxic system comprised all the equipment necessary for open or closed stereotaxic surgery. He was also a student of Nobel Laureate, Ragnar Granit. Their research together led to Leksell’s Ph.D. thesis (1945) on action potentials and excitatory effects of small ventral root fibers to skeletal muscle. This produced the first evidence of the efferent gamma system, and is considered a milestone in neurophysiology.

In 1946, Leksell was asked to become Chief of Service to a new neurosurgical clinic in Lund, Sweden. In 1958, he was named Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Lund, where he remained until the retirement of Professor Olivecrona in 1960, at which time Leksell became Chief of the neurosurgical service at the Serafimerlasarettet and Professor of Neurosurgery at the Karolinska Institute. He retired from both positions in 1974.

Lars Leksell’s greatest impact on the field of neurosurgery was in the area of stereotaxic surgery. However, his technical innovations outside of stereotaxis and radio surgery were also significant. He was one of the first to use ultrasound in clinical practice, and pointed out the value of echoencephalography as early as 1955. He described a technique for the recanalization of the mesencephalic aqueduct in atresia. He developed the wonderfully effective double action Leksell ronguers, used by neurosurgeons the world over.

Leksell experienced the difficulties typical of men who are ahead of their times. His theories have often been controversial when introduced, but later have received general acceptance. Some of his technical improvements also met with initial resistance. He was an innovative thinker with the capacity to see his ideas developed into useful concepts and instrumentation. He died in 1986.