The Use of Radon Seeds to Produce Deep Cerebral Lesions.

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Abstract
The classical method of ablating various nervous structures and observing physiol. after-effects is routinely used in the study of brain and spinal cord. The technics of chemical injn., section with a knife, removal by suction, thermocoagulation, and elec- trolytic destruction have been proved unsatisfactory for producing lesions deep in the brain. The most generally accepted method, electrolytic destruction, has several disadvantages; viz. there may be vascular spread from a large lesion made at one sitting; the shock of a quickly produced lesion may be fatal to an animal; the size of the lesion produced is difficult to control and because of the danger of vascular spread can never be large. The authors have adapted a method of producing lesions with radon seeds which overcomes most of the above objections. Using monkeys as exptl. animals, radon seeds are precisely placed in the depths of the brain with a stereotaxic instrument. The procedure outlined is simple, and a large lesion is produced with little shock through a single small hole of entry. Precedent is cited of results from seed insertion into the midbrain. Because of its obvious advantages, the authors suggest the method for human neurosurgery, especially for treating deep neoplasms of the thalamus and basal ganglia. These structures now can be reached by a new stereotaxic instrument adequate for man.

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