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Stereotactic Limbic Leucotomy: Neurophysiological Aspects and Operative Technique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Desmond Kelly ,
Alan Richardson  and
Nita Mitchell-Heggs
Desmond Kelly
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosurgery of St. George's Hospital, Atkinson Morley's Hospital, 31 Copse Hill, London, S.W.20
Alan Richardson
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosurgery of St. George's Hospital, Atkinson Morley's Hospital, 31 Copse Hill, London, S.W.20
Nita Mitchell-Heggs
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosurgery of St. George's Hospital, Atkinson Morley's Hospital, 31 Copse Hill, London, S.W.20
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Extract

Psychosurgery has always been, and is likely to remain, a controversial subject. Blind operations lack precision and can lead to adverse personality changes or other serious side-effects. Open surgery is becoming less acceptable because of the difficulties of accurately assessing the extent of a lesion and its exact location. The introduction of stereotactic techniques enables far smaller lesions to be placed with a high degree of accuracy, and increased knowledge of the limbic system has contributed to advances in this field.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 123 , Issue 573 , August 1973 , pp. 133 - 140
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1973

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Footnotes

A synopsis of this paper was published in the December 1972 Journal.

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