Raumbeengende Prozesse

219 are entirely local questions which form the ordeal first of the primary diag nostician and later, more severely, of the surgeon. The handedness of the patient, in tumors of the hemispheres; the relationship of the growth to silent or to indispensible areas; the degree of inevitable damage that must be done; the chronicity of the lesion; the degree of visual disturbance and the extent of its probable subsequent regression toward normal; the benefit to the patient as a member of society or of the family circle; - all must enter into the decision. Recently the most distinguished neurosurgeon of the present time has released mortality statistics concerning his 30 years' experience at the operating table with intracranial tumors; these are given to contemporary and future neurosurgeons as a "'score' to compete against and ... to improve upon if possible" (89). The entire statistic covers 2.882 tumor cases, of which 2.023 were verified. The table for the final three years (1928-1931), which may be accepted as a creditable best for contemporary neurosurgery, is given below: Table 2. Mortality percentages of Dr. HARVEY CUSHING, Boston, 1928-1931 (88).