August 23, 2008
The genius of Harvey Cushing:
Neurophilosophy has a beautifully illustrated and carefully researched article on Harvey Cushing one of the greatest neurosurgeons of the 20th century and a pioneer in treating previously inoperable brain tumours.
The article has loads of fantastic photos of Cushing at work, and also includes the one of his remarkably detailed drawings, illustrated in the image on the right.
Cushing is particularly famous for his work on the surgical removal of tumours, and for identifying what is now called Cushing's syndrome, a disorder caused by high levels of cortisol in the blood, sometimes caused by a tumour in the pituitary gland. The tumour can be removed, curing this debilitating hormone disorder.
Neurophilosophy notes that Cushing removed more than 2,000 tumours during his lifetime. As we noted in an earlier article, one of these operations was to remove a brain tumour from the sister of Wilder Penfield, who was one of Cushing's most famous pupils.
The Neurophilosophy article also has links to loads more photos and even a video of one of Cushing's last operations.
Link to excellent Neurophilosophy piece on 'Harvey Cushing photo journal'.
