The Region : Two Rare Brain Operations Performed
Teams of surgeons at two San Diego hospitals simultaneously performed experimental brain surgery on two patients, transplanting parts of adrenal glands to brains in the hope of curing Parkinson’s disease. It was the first time doctors have grafted new tissue into the brain in an effort to generate dopamine, a brain hormone that is lacking in people with the disease. Dr. Brian Copeland, a neurosurgeon who with Dr. Karl Herwig operated on a 56-year-old man at Scripps Clinic & Research Foundation, said the procedure, if successful, could be used to treat other diseases such as Huntington’s. Surgeons at University of California, San Diego, Medical Center performed a similar operation on an unidentified woman. Hospital officials said it would be some time before success could be determined. The timing of the two operations was coincidental, they said.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Sept. 10, 1987 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday September 10, 1987 Home Edition Part 1 Page 2 Column 1 Metro Desk 2 inches; 67 words Type of Material: Correction
In a story on Wednesday about simultaneous operations on two Parkinson’s disease patients at two San Diego hospitals, The Times stated that it was the first time doctors had grafted new tissue into the brain in an effort to generate the chemical dopamine. As reported in this newspaper last July 15, the experimental surgery was performed for the first time in California at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center and had been performed at least 45 times previously in the world.
