Irving S. Cooper

FOR more than a century there have been sporadic reports indicating the potential usefulness of cooling or freezing biologic tissues to produce controlled physiologic inhibition or anatomic destruction.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Heretofore, however, the lack of adequate instrumentation has prevented the realization of the potential value of extreme cold as a surgical tool.It is the purpose of this report to describe a complete cryogenic surgical system for cooling or freezing localized areas of biologic tissue. This system encompasses all the characteristics essential for the use of extreme cold for production of physiologic inhibition in tissues such as brain, endocrine organs or heart . . .

Ten of 15 patients subjected to chronic cerebellar stimulation have had previously intractable seizures modified or inhibited up to periods of three years. Stimulation of anterior lobe appears to be more efficacious than stimulation of posterior lobe. Cerebellar biopsies, obtained in five patients at the time of stimulator placement, revealed in every instance a reduction in the molecular layer, decreased or absent Purkinje cells, and decreased stellate cells. One unimproved patient died during a seizure 17 months after stimulation was initiated. Histological examination of the brain did not reveal tissue damage attributable to the stimulator. There is no evidence of any adverse effect of chronic cerebellar stimulation in humans who have undergone stimulation for periods up to three years.

2Department of Surgery, New York University School of Medicine; Department of Neurosurgery, St. Barnabas Hospital, New York. 3Consultant in engineering to the Department of Neurosurgery, St. Barnabas Hospital.

Journal Article Heterotopic Glial Nests in the Subarachnoid Space: Histopathologic Characteristics, Mode of Origin and Relation to Meningeal Gliomas Get access Irving S. Cooper, M.D., Irving S. Cooper, M.D. Rochester, Minnesota †Fellow in Neurosurgery, Mayo Foundation. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar James W. Kernohan, M.D. James W. Kernohan, M.D. Rochester, Minnesota ‡Section on Pathologic Anatomy, Mayo Clinic. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology, Volume 10, Issue 1, January 1951, Pages 16–29, https://doi.org/10.1097/00005072-195110010-00002 Published: 01 January 1951