University of Miami Anesthesiologist Keeps Patient Awake During Brain Surgery
Anesthesiologist Thomas Fuhrman, MD, kept a patient awake during brain surgery at the University of Miami Hospital, according to a Miami Herald report.
According to the report, the patient, Ray Beccaria, had an aggressive brain tumor half an inch below the surface of his brain on the left side. The neurosurgeon needed to access the tumor without damaging any part of the brain that controlled language, movement and sight, so the surgical team used an electrical probe to stimulate parts of the patient's brain and monitored his ability to count and speak.
According to the report, the anesthesiologist had to keep the patient "not totally awake, but awake enough to speak." The procedure has been around for several years but is seldom used because of the skilled teamwork required.
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