Show surgery on brain may restore sanity I 1 have spoken before of the satisfactory results obtained by drs G W T fleming and W mckissock in various types of mental diseases by removal of part of the brain substance in the british lancet these two physicians report the results obtained by this operation on 15 additional patients there were 12 melancholic an cases one had obsessions one a double personality and one was violent and depressed in spirit of the 12 patients with melancholia seven had made a complete recovery one has shown considerable improvement pro but the other four have shown little improvement the patient with obsessions has completely recovered the double personality patient is more quiet and the violent depressive case is more easily handled several of the patients have found complete peace of mind after the operation there is apparently but small risk by operation there were no deaths in the 15 cases AU all these cases had received no help from other forms of treatment in the same issue of the british lancet dr E L hutton reports the results obtained on 50 mental patients who underwent this operation prefrontal leucotomy leuko tomy there were two deaths only one of which was directly due to operation not a single patient is recorded as being worse after the treatment ent than before and even the patient with the least satisfactory results is found to be quieter less impulsive and easier to handle leucotomy Leuko tomy removal of part 0 of f the brain by surgery converted many patients suffering from fro in supposedly hopeless mental disorders into contented and useful members of society |