Doctors Live Stream Brain Surgery on 25-Year-Old Woman on Facebook
A complex brain surgery on a young woman was live-streamed on Facebook on Tuesday morning in the city of Texas. It was a 40-minute video.
A complex brain surgery on a young woman was live-streamed on Facebook on Tuesday morning in the city of Texas. It was a 40-minute video.
Jenna Schardt who is only 25 years old suffered a stroke due to a mass of blood vessels in her left temporal lobe. This mass of blood vessels affected her speech said Nimesh Patel, head of neurology in Methodist Dallas Medical Center.
In the video, doctors can be seen removing the mass from Jenna Schardt’s brain. During the complex procedure, Jenna can be seen speaking with her physicians. She remained awake throughout the surgery so that the doctors could be sure that they were not damaging parts of her brain that is responsible for her speech abilities.
They asked her to say words like a bird, dog or a number to make a “map” of her brain said, Nimish Patel. They even asked her about her pet dog to test her memory.
It was commendable of 25-year-old Jenna to bravely undergo the complex surgery. To top it, she remained awake during the whole procedure. Jenna Schardt is studying occupation therapy. The irony of Jenna’s life is that she helps patients who have had strokes and suffer from other neurological problems. Probably she didn’t fathom that she would be meeting a similar fate however she’s emerged victorious in this situation.
While she was taking care of people in the North Texas Rehabilitation Center, she suddenly lost the ability to speak. It was only after she was rushed to the hospital that doctors assessed her problem.
Neurosurgeon Dr. Randall Graham told the Dallas Morning News, “Awake brain surgery is nothing new.” He added, “If I stimulate a spot that controls part of her speech, then her speech will stop… so then I’ll be able to mark that area on the brain’s surface that basically tells us to stay out of the area.” He said that patients are asked to stay awake so that they can assess the brain function around a tumor or a lesion so that neurological functions aren’t damaged.
Despite being in an unfavorable situation, Jenna Schardt thought that her condition would be a source of medical information for many others. She decided to live stream the procedure. Thankfully Jenna Schardt’s surgery was a pure success.