Surgical Division of Commissural Pathways in the Corpus Callosum

Presurgical evaluation and surgical treatment of medically refractory epilepsy

“…Callosotomy is intended to interrupt the pathways of seizure spread or interhemispheric synchronization [15]. Van Wagenen made the observation that epileptic patients who subsequently sustained a stroke involving the corpus callosum often had improvement in their seizure disorders; and in 1940 he and Herren reported a series in which the corpus callosum was intentionally divided for the treatment of intractable epilepsy [243]. In the early 1960s, Bogen reported a small series of similarly operated patients with encouraging results [12,13,14], and Luessenhop described comparable success in three of four children [123,124].…”

Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum

“…Cameron (1917) and Dandy (1936) found no abnormality in patients in whom the corpus callosum was surgically divided. Van Wagenen and Yorke Herren (1940) divided the corpus callosum of 10 epileptic patients to prevent generalisation of the fits and found that section of the commissural pathways contained in the corpus callosum could be performed without any untoward effect. Intensive studies were made on these patients and six others, the pre-operative and post-operative findings being carefully compared (Akelaitis, 1941;Smith and Akelaitis, 1942); no evidence of any significant abnormality was found.…”

The history of neurosurgery at the University of Rochester

“…Perhaps one of the most notable achievements was Dr. Van Wagenen's seminal description of the corpus callosotomy, 8 which paved the way for discoveries about interhemispheric connections that would lead to a Nobel Prize in Medicine.…”

“…3 Dr. Smith was responsible for describing a novel technique of 1934-19371937deceased William Beswick 1936-19381938deceased Robert Herren 1938-19391939deceased Roland Bellows 1933-19401940deceased Wilford Risteen 1939-19421942deceased Jack French 1938-19431943deceased Kenneth Livingston 1942-19431943deceased Frank Smith 1945-19481948deceased Preston Weadon 1949-19511951deceased Frederick Pitts 1956-19581958deceased Henry Stoltmann 1957-19621962Wellesley, MA Shige-Hisa Okawara 1959-19641964deceased Robert Mitgang 1963-19671967Livingston, MT George Yang 1964-19681968Lopez Island, WA Thomas Klump 1965-19691969…”