Scotland Correspondent Issue 29

Page 10

Medically marvellous Glasgow

T

his year marks the 140th anniversary of the world’s first successful brain tumour operation. It was performed on a 14 year old girl by the celebrated super-surgeon Sir William Macewen in Glasgow. Today such operations are commonplace and performed in hospitals around the world, saving thousands of lives every year, but in 1879 it was an amazing advance in medicine. Next month the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (RCPSG) will hold a symposium to celebrate the historic breakthrough, hear the story behind this groundbreaking operation and discover some of the amazing advances that have taken place in this extraordinary field of surgery. Born near Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, in 1848 Macewen graduated

p10

Early surgical set of instruments from the archives


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