Webcast: A hemispherectomy & “split-brain” surgery
This film shows surgeons from the Neuroscience Institute at Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center perform a hemispher- ectomy on a 6-year-old girl with epilepsy. This involves removing a large part of the girl’s left hemisphere; the corpus callosum, the bundle of approximately 100 million nerve fibres connecting the two hemispheres, is then severed.
One of the surgeons in the film describes epilepsy as “an electrical storm” in the brain. The procedure is performed to remove the eye of this “storm”. The corpus callosum is then severed, just in case the tissue which is the source of the abnormal electrical activity has not been removed in its entirety. This would prevent any remaining abnormal activity spreading from its source, in the left hemisphere, to the right hemisphere.
Surgery is usually a last resort for epileptics who do not respond to drugs. Part of the procedure shown in the film is similar to that performed on Sperry and Gazzaniga’s so-called “split-brain” patients, in which the corpus callosum is severed. The corpus callosumectomy is also performed to prevent the spread of seizures from one hemisphere to the other.
WARNING: NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED
Related posts:
[...] The Neurophilosopher posted a story linking to google video clip of a complete hemispherectomy - that is, removal of a hemisphere and the corpus callosum. This is plenty cool in itself. I found the originating website, called OR-live, and it turns out that they have a fairly large archive of neurosurgery videos. Unfortunately, they are in Realplayer format, but if you have the connection for it, or if you’re inclined to do some light hacking to save the file to your hard drive, these are well worth watching. [...]
The Phineas Gage Fan Club
1 Dec 06 at 11:03 pm
Great stuff.
I dug out the source of the video - OR-live. Turns out they have a whole host of other neurosurgery videos, unfortunately in Realplayer format. Good, gruesome fun.
Johan
1 Dec 06 at 11:06 pm
This is far different from the so-called “split brain” procedure, which removes only the corpus callosum.
Michael Gazzaniga
6 Dec 06 at 5:50 pm
Professor Gazzaniga, I’m honoured that you’ve visited my weblog. It was the work you did with Roger Sperry on the “split brain” patients that inspired me to read neuroscience at university.
I’d be a fool to argue with you, as i doubt there are many people in the world who know more about this sort of thing than you. I only say the two procedures are similar insofar as they both involve a severing of the corpus callosum.
The neurophilosopher
6 Dec 06 at 6:38 pm
[...] Click Here to watch the video [...]
Vatik
8 Dec 06 at 3:04 am
[...] - Neurophilosopher’s Weblog [...]
science.vatik.net
12 Dec 06 at 6:00 am
I am a parent of a child who had a hemispherectomy to stop seizures. I wanted to thank you for posting the video, because I have always wanted to see what my son had to go through. The surgery saved his life.
Joy Bennett
22 Jan 07 at 10:10 pm
Does any one have a link to info on Rebecca the girl who had this operation in Connecticut almost 2 decades ago? I would like to see how she is doing.
debi
5 Sep 07 at 1:06 pm
The man is much bad as a wolf when he has no obstacle.
This is no science. We don’t know almoust none abot the neurons, we know nothing about how we think, but we allow ourself to mutilate the beautiful organ that God gave us: the brain.
Yes, is true: the patient acquired the silence. But why you don’t use a hammer? So, your goal is obtained in a second
And a Nobel Prise for lobotomy - what shame for this distinction!!!
Mircea Tirziu
18 Apr 08 at 2:51 am
i really apretiate you effort,may God blees u all;
am a nigerian who is always wishing to be a neurosurgion.
shamsu abdullahi
9 Jul 08 at 11:03 am