A STUDY OF FRONTAL LOBOTOMY
Abstract
1. Twenty-two psychotic patients have been subjected to frontal lobotomy. Of sixteen agitated depressions twelve recovered sufficiently to live in their own homes, and continue to live at home in a relatively satisfactory degree of emotional adjustment. Of the five advanced schizophrenics two have made apparent recoveries. Two have improved to some degree and one, after making only slight improvement, succumbed to a virulent lobar pneumonia. The case of sexual psychopathy, operated upon as a last resort, made no improvement.
2. Two patients died, one was an anesthetic death and one was the result of postoperative hemorrhage. The mortality rate in general has not been a discouraging feature of frontal lobotomy.
3. The operation should be employed only in chronic psychotic cases and only after other less drastic therapeutic methods have failed.
4. The constellation of symptoms of fear, anxiety, acute mental suffering, aggressive violence, etc., is a better criterion of anticipated improvement from the operation than the diagnostic label.
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