Psychosurgery for stuttering

Abstract

Edgar Durand,1 Alexander G Weil,2 Marc Lévêque1,3 1Espace éthique de l’Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris et Département de recherche en éthique, South Paris University, Paris, France; 2Pediatric Neurosurgical Department, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada; 3Service de Neurochirurgie, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France We read with interest the article entitled “Anterior capsulotomy improves persistent developmental stuttering with a psychiatric disorder: a case report and literature review” published in Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment.1 The authors report on a 28-year-old man with persistent developmental stuttering who was treated by bilateral anterior capsulotomy in the People’s Republic of China. To our knowledge, this is a new and previously unreported application of this technique for this indication. Accordingly, as the authors highlight, “the evidence for surgical treatment of persistent developmental stuttering and associated psychiatric disorders is limited”, placing their approach within the clinical research forum. In this experimental context, this case report brings forward several important reflections on patient evaluation, technique utilized, and postoperative follow-up. Read the original article