Studies in depression. 3. the control of affective illness by cingulotractotomy: a review of 150 cases
Bailey, H.R.; Dowling, J.L.; Davies, E.
Medical Journal of Australia 2(8): 366-371
1973
ISSN/ISBN: 0025-729X PMID: 4749527 Document Number: 5791
Cingulotractotomy, or the placing of discrete, bilateral, surgical lesions in the anterior cingulate gyri, is now a well-established procedure for the treatment of severe, intractable affective (depressive) illness. The clinical results obtained by workers in many parts of the world, including Ballantine (1972), Hunter Brown (1972), Laitenen (1971) and Livingstone (1972), demonstrate a consistent level of lessening or removal of symptoms in nearly all patients subjected to the operation. A sufficient number of cases has now been recorded to establish clearly that the operation is a safe, low-risk procedure, which, in skilled hands, gives a better level of symptom abatement in selected cases than other formal psychiatric therapies. In properly selected cases there are no measurable impairments of intelligence or personality after operation. Per contra, there is a consistent small improvement in intellectual functioning seen on psychological testing of the majority of patients. In most cases there is a definite improvement in the degree of extraversion and the ability of the patient to relate to the external environment. In patients who have had the operation because of recurrent compulsive behavioural disturbances associated with depression, abolition of the antisocial behaviour with marked improvement in the patient's capacity for interpersonal relationships is seen in almost every case. This paper is concerned with the results of cingulotractotomy in a series of 150 patients selected from one consultative practice over a seven-year period.
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