Late one night at the insane asylum, one inmate shouted, "I am Napoleon!"
Another patient asked, "How do you know?"
The first inmate said, "Because God told me!"
Just then, a voice from another room shouted, "I did NOT!"
Hydrocephalus shuntIn 1956, a successful new silicone valve to drain "water on the brain" in cases of hydrocephalus, was reported by Dr. Eugene B. Spitz at the American Academy of Pediatrics meeting in New York City. John Holter, an engineer, invented the shunt using a silicone one-way, pressure-sealing valve which avoided the clogging problems experienced with the earlier metal valves previously tried by surgeons Spitz and Nulsen. The shunt drained fluid and controlled cranial pressure. In the 8 months since the first installation in Feb 1956, the Holter valve was implanted in 68 cases of which 57 were successful in decompressing the brain. Previous means had a success rate of only 16 out of 122 cases. The device has since saved many thousands of lives.« |
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