Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1919-01-24
OPERATION AIDS
BACKWARD BOY
EARvEl OF MODERN SURGERY
ORGAN REMOVED FROM NECK
OF WOMAN
PATIENTS IMPROVE VERY RAPIDLY
Child Had Become Mentally Deficient
Because Of Depression--Now Can
Speak intelIigentiy

1
Because of Depression--Now Can
Speak inteiIigentiy
Brooklyn, N. Y.-Another marvel OF
modern surgery was performed in st.
Mary's Hospital, with every indication
| of success. BY an operation known as
thyroidectomy the extreme Rental ac-
tivity of woman was iessened and
the backward mind of child was
brought closer to the normal.
The operation itself was compare:
lively simple. Briefly told, 1t consist
Cd of removing part Of goiter in the
] throat of the abnormal woman and in
sorting 1t in the abdominal wall of the
subnormal child. The Improvement In
both cases was marked.
The woman, who was about 81
years old, came from well to do
family in Brooklyn. She had been sui
tfering for some time from the swell
ing of the throat known colloQuially
as goiter. BY physicians this is attri-
buted to an enlargement of the thy
roid gland just under the jaw.
This gland is at present so doctors
themselves say, but imperfectly ccm-
pretended by physicians, but they
know enough of it's functions to re-.
alize that it is one of the most remark
able organs in the body. 1t Is believ-
ed not only to govern the growth but
to determine the mental and nervous
development Because of the excessive
size of the patients thyroid gland.
which is known technically as hyper
thyroidism, the woman was in high
ly sensitive state.
She was neurotic, subject to fits OF
| bysteria, and was agitated by the
slightest disturbance. Consequently
she decided to go to st. Mary's hos
rital, which had been particularly sue
cessful in the reduction of thyroidical
affections. When she went there the
chief operating surgeon decided that
he had an opportunity not only OF re-
lieving the woman but of benefitting
the little boy in whom he was interest
ed
The youngster, who was 6 years old
was the son of a prominent man in
Virginia. He suffered from lack OF
secretions from the thyroid gland,
which caused him to be mentally de-
.ective. His speech was limited and so
indistinctSas to be unintelligible. and
though he apparently recognized his
toys when they were held up before
him, he could not name them. His
parents were DESTROYS of having the
handicap removed. but though the OPP
Grating surgeon had promised assist
ance, he had found only diseased thy
roids among his patients until the wo-
man applied at the hospital.
Then he notified the lads father,
who Immediately brought his son
here. An operation was decided upon
by the doctors at st. Mary's eight
hours after the boys arrival, which
made his subsequent good showing all
the more striking. He and the woman
were placed on adjoining operating ia
bles, with three surgeons in attend
ance and other physicians at the hos
pital watching the unique proceeding.
The woman was given an injection
CT cocaine in her neck, while the child
was put under a general anaesthetic,
ether being administered. One lobe Of
the woman's thyroid gland was then
taken out and transplanted to the boy,
being placed between the peritoneum,
a membrane lining the abdominal cav
jty and the fascia, connective tissue
covering the vital organs. The opera
ton was over in an hour and half.
The woman who had been conscious
and talking freely to the doctors dur
ing the operation without feeling the
slightest pain recovered quickly. The
strain on her mind was greatly dimin.
ished, and though not restored to nor
NAL sensibility at once, physicians at
the hospital felt when she was dis
charged 1t was only question of time
before her temperament would be
brought to "the happy medium"
Their chief interest centered In the
transformation SO far wrought in the
child. He came out of the effects of
the ether without trouble and began
to grow in intelligence. At the end of
Is days observation his clear utter
ance was In sharp contrast to his
mumbling previously. and he could
pronounce such difficult words for a
youngster as Automobile" and "choo-
choo train" AS he left to return to
Virginia with his father he delighted
the nurses by speaking the words they
taught him, ''Good.by. sweetheart"
Operations o. q kindred nature have
been performed few times before.
tut never with such favorable results
so far as known. The practice has
been to insert the grated thyroid In.
to the tibia, or shin bone, on the the
DRY that Il would take best there. But
rs the gland Is one Of the ductless var
isty and stakes" anywhere the staff
at st. Mary's determined to make the
experiment of placing it near the in.
testines. When their data are more
c.mnlete this psychologicaI cnange &C