Woman Plays Violin During Brain Surgery

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Brain Surgery is a complex and difficulty procedure. Removing brain tumors is a very precise task. The difference of one millimeter could impair movement. At the Kings Collage Hospital in London a brain tumor surgery for Dagmar Turner. Ms. Turner was a violinist for an orchestra. In 2013 Ms. Turner was diagnosed with a brain cancer. Playing the violin requires very precise movements. Undergoing surgery to remove the tumor causing the brain cancer could damage parts of the brain that are needed to play the violin. Dr. Keumars Ashkan an neurosurgeon at Kings Collage Hospital came up with a solution so that the brain tumor could be removed as well as that Ms. Turner would still be able to play the violin. Dr. Ashkan solution was that Ms. Turner would play the violin during the brain surgery. By playing the violin during the surgery the neuroscientists would be able to tell if she could still play and if she was playing correctly. She played songs that the neurosurgeon knew about so he could tell if she was playing correctly. Anesthesia was applied so Ms. Turner would not feel the surgery. However, this practice is not new and it has been used before in other similar situations.  In 2014 Alama Kante a singer, faced a similar problem. Kante had a tumor in her throat. She was told to sing during the procedure. 2 months later she recovered and she could sing perfectly fine.  In 2018 a very similar situation to that of Ms. Turner happened to an African Jazz Musician Musa Manzini. He also had a tumor in his brain and he was asked to play a guitar during the operation. He played several notes on his guitar to help guide the brain surgery. ​

Here in a video from CBS News you can see Ms. Turner play the violin during her surgery.