Collin S. MacCarty (1915-2003): Inventor of the "MacCarty Keyhole" as the Starting Burr Hole for Orbitozygomatic Craniotomy.

INTRODUCTION: Dr. Collin S. MacCarty (1915-2003) invented the MacCarty keyhole, which is now widely used as the starting burr hole for orbitozygomatic craniotomy. We present a historical vignette on MacCarty's life and chronicle his contributions to neurosurgery.

METHODS: A detailed search for articles relating to the biography and professional career of Dr. MacCarty was conducted on PubMed and Google Scholar by using the key words "Collin MacCarty" and "MacCarty keyhole." References found in those articles were also reviewed.

RESULTS: On September 20, 1915, Collin MacCarty was born in Rochester, Minnesota. MacCarty was exposed to the medical field at an early age. He witnessed legendary surgeons like Alfred Adson perform brain and spine operations. Expectedly, MacCarty pursued a career in neurosurgery. He was influenced by Walter Dandy as a house office at Johns Hopkins and completed his neurosurgical training at the Mayo Clinic under Adson. In a distinguished career in neurosurgery at the Mayo Clinic, MacCarty served many important roles, including Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery from 1963 to 1975 and President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. He was world-renowned for his vast experience with meningiomas. In 1961, MacCarty described a burr hole to expose the periorbita and frontal dura while approaching intraorbital meningiomas. This burr hole became immortalized as the "MacCarty keyhole" and is used widely today in frontotemporal orbitozygomatic approaches.

CONCLUSIONS: Collin S. MacCarty was an influential neurosurgeon. Among a multitude of contributions, he is most well-known for inventing the "MacCarty keyhole" which is widely implemented nowadays as the starting point for orbitozygomatic approaches.