KEY POINTS:
SYDNEY - The scalpels are out in the world of brain surgeons after one declared himself head and shoulders above the rest in Australia and New Zealand.
Charles Teo, of Sydney's Prince of Wales Private Hospital, appeared on a television current affairs show where he declared: "I think I'm the best." He added that he was prepared to go where others feared to tread.
His statements drew a swift response from the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia - whose 130 members make up about 95 per cent of brain surgeons on both sides of the Tasman - in an advertisement in Saturday's edition of the Australian newspaper.
"The society is concerned that a recent media presentation may have caused the incorrect perception that the standard of neurosurgery available in Australia and New Zealand is not of the highest standard," president Eric Guazzo wrote.
Dr Teo resigned from the society in 2003. He appeared on Channel Nine's 60 Minutes programme, which filmed him removing a tumour from the brain of a 12-year-old boy through a small hole in his left eyebrow.
Dr Teo claimed no brain tumour was inoperable, that he was pioneering keyhole surgery and that other surgeons were jealous.
"If it'd been some other neurosurgeon bringing keyhole surgery to Australia, maybe they would have had more luck," he told the programme.
"But, you know, it's Charlie Teo I think that they don't like. They're not giving it a fair chance."
Dr Guazzo, who works at Townsville Hospital, told the Australian that Dr Teo was a "competent technical neurosurgeon" but keyhole surgery had been commonly used for decades.
"The suggestion during the interview that there is a reluctance to use or that this type of surgery is not widely available in Australia and New Zealand is erroneous and disparages the professional skill and knowledge available," he wrote.
But Dr Teo had at least one happy supporter to back his claims.
Donna Bonnici, the mother of Nathan Bonnici, whose surgery was shown on 60 Minutes, was in no doubt. Her son suffered no adverse affects and minimal scarring. "Charlie is the best," she said.
- NZPA
