Psychosurgery: An Evaluation of Two Hundred Cases Over Seven Years

Abstract

Psychosurgery consists in surgical operation on the anatomically intact brain for the purpose of relieving mental symptoms. It was first devised and named by Egas Moniz, the distinguished Portuguese neurologist, essayist and diplomat, following the Third International Neurological Congress in 1935, at which time a remarkable symposium was offered on the functions of the frontal lobes (1). Approximately a year later Moniz (2) published his monograph detailing results in his first twenty cases. We began our work in the Fall of 1936, reporting our experiences in preliminary fashion several times, later bringing them together in a monograph (3), presenting the “results” in 80 cases. Since that time we have persistently followed up these cases as well as all subsequent ones, and now, with a series of 204 cases in all, we are able to discuss the adjustment of 154 living patients over a period ranging from six months to seven years.