1942-08-31

This is a handwritten letter from Harold Elliott to Wilder Penfield. In the letter, Elliott discusses surgical procedures performed on injured service personnel. He asks Penfield for his opinion on specific treatments. This letter is from August 31, 1942.

text.manuscript.black and white 20 x 12.5 cm

English

Elliott, Harold, 1908- -- Correspondence.
Penfield, Wilder, 1891-1976 -- Correspondence.
Surgery, Military.
World War, 1939-1945.
Nervous system -- Surgery.

Wilder Penfield Digital Collection

Wilder Penfield Fonds P142 -- Series A (Administration) -- Sub-Series A/N (Administration, Neuro)

Osler Library of the History of Medicine, McGill University

Letter from Harold Elliott to Wilder Penfield, August 31, 1942. [Online image]. Wilder Penfield Digital Collection Wilder Penfield Fonds P142 -- Series A (Administration) -- Sub-Series A/N (Administration, Neuro) . Osler Library of the History of Medicine, McGill University . Retrieved April 20, 2024 from http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/penfieldfonds/fullrecord.php?ID=10235

This material has been made available with the consent of the copyright holders and can be used in accordance with fair dealing provisions of Canadian copyright law. For more information, please contact the Osler Library of the History of Medicine.

Elliott, Harold, 1908-.

Note transcription reads: "31 August - 42, #1 Neurological Hospital. Dear Doctor Penfield, I thought you might like to knwo about the first actual 'war' casualties of a neurosurgical nature; Brigadier Cairns was to see the series as it has been his first opportunity to see anything like that approaching Cushings experiences. There were 6 GSW heads all to Cd and 1 GSW spmob - this seems to be a very small number but it is presumed that the other 296 were left behind - I say 296 since Peter Ashroft in Libya. He has at least 250 GSW heads now and says that neurosurgical war casualties absent - as in the last war is about 20%. In every case the wounds were 36 to 48 hours old. There were 2 trans cerebral from one side of occupied to the other both of whom showed some visual ephasia. The wound of entry in every case was excised and all the wounds healed by primary union and photographs were obtained with nice union on the 6th day. One of the cases was a through and through unilateral gutter wound with the large groove through this left side of his brain. Another case was a 5 cm penetration into occiptal lobe. Another case was a (?) location with to is desirable temporal (?) in and the final one had was desirable damage to the right temporal soft tissues. In all when it was penetrated there was a great deal of shattering of the skull with (?) bony fragments. All of the cases had several other wounds requiring "several operations". In the cereberal penetration cases (?) plate debridemens was done (?) the dura and we wonder now whetherwe should inject oxygen subdurally after your method to separate the brain and attempt to minimize menings cereberal acitrix. No attempt was made to close the chural defed. They have all done facility well. This is only a preliminary report - (?) if you like. I can send you a later report of their progress. Sincerely, Harold Elliott. P.S. In the trans cerebral cases where you do the debridement at A. we wonder whether a debridement should be at B."

A/N 11-1