Lying on the operating table, intubated and eyes closed, Dagmar Turner continues to play the violin. Her right arm slides the bow over the strings, while behind her, a team of surgeons, charlotte on the head, is removing a brain tumor from her. The operation took place in January at King's College Hospital in London. All along, music and rustling of operating theater merge. As long as the 53-year-old musician can continue playing, it is because the cells of her right frontal lobe - the ones that control her left hand - are not damaged.
The first operation of its kind
The procedure being very delicate, doctors and surgeons wanted to make sure in real time that the movement of his hands was not affected. Before operating, the doctors drew up a map of the active cervical zones when their patient plays music. This is what allowed them to develop this very precise and unprecedented operating protocol. If it can happen that we control language during an operation, for example by asking questions to the patient, this is the first time that the gestures of a musician are monitored in real time.
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A success, since 90% of the tumor was removed "including all areas suspected of aggressive activity," said the medical team. Just three days after her operation, the 53-year-old musician was released from the hospital. She hopes to be able to reintegrate at most her orchestra, the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra.