THIS is the bizarre moment a woman stuffs olives while she has brain surgery – so docs know they have not accidentally paralysed her. The 60-year-old prepared more than 90 aperitifs while undergoing the complex two-and-a-half hour procedure in Ancona, Italy. Her eyewatering actions allowed medics to monitor their work as they operated on the patient’s […]
THIS is the bizarre moment a woman stuffs olives while she has brain surgery – so docs know they have not accidentally paralysed her.
The 60-year-old prepared more than 90 aperitifs while undergoing the complex two-and-a-half hour procedure in Ancona, Italy.
Her eyewatering actions allowed medics to monitor their work as they operated on the patient’s left temporal lobe.
That is the crucial part of the brain which controls complex movements down the right side of the body.
Dr Roberto Trignani, head of the Neurosurgery Department at the Azienda Ospedali Riuniti hospital, revealed the op was a success.
He has performed dozens of similar operations over the past five years.
Awake brain surgery is used to treat some neurological conditions – like tumours – which affect the areas responsible for vision, movement or speech.
To prevent surgeons inflicting any damage to healthy tissue, the patient can be asked questions or are engaged in various activities while under the knife.
Dr Trignani told Ansa news agency the method allows him “to monitor the patient while we work on their brain functions and to calibrate our action”.
During another procedure one patient was asked to watch cartoons.
Preparing Ascoli olives is far more complicated and Italian media said the operating theatre resembled something of a kitchen during the surgery.
In Febraury we reported how a patient at King’s College Hospital in London played the violin while surgeons operated on her brain to remove a tumour.
Dagmar Turner, 53, played the violin so surgeons could ensure parts of the brain which control hand movements and coordination were not damaged during the intricate procedure.
She had explained to her surgeon – who holds a degree in music and is an accomplished pianist – how she was worried she’s lose her skill if she had surgery.
