cingulotomy
Noun
Meaning
cingulotomy (plural cingulotomies)
(surgery) A form of brain surgery in which an electric current is used to destroy the cortex of the cingulate gyrus and part of the corpus callosum.
Synonym: cingulectomy
Synonyms
Examples
Case studies A recent study conducted at the Massachusetts General Hospital analyzed the outcome of bilateral cingulotomy in 44 patients for the treatment of OCD in the period between 1965 and 1986.
Anterior cingulotomy was first used by Hugh Cairns in the UK, and developed in the US by H.T. Ballantine jnr.
Based on the data obtained, cingulotomy for treatment of chronic pain showed promising results. 72% reported improvement in the level of pain experienced, and 50% indicated that they no longer required painkillers after cingulotomy.
These findings have also been confirmed by stereotactic microelectrode analysis of single cortical neurons in a study, which involved nine patients undergoing bilateral cingulotomy.
It has been questioned whether this is relevant and can be attributed to cingulotomy because such seizures were observed in patients that already had a history of this condition.
San Francisco, WH Freeman and Co: 164-204 The first reports of the use of cingulotomy on psychiatric patients came from J le Beau in Paris, Hugh Cairns in Oxford, and Kenneth Livingston in Oregon.