CEREBRAL SERENADE
Violinist plays while having brain surgery
Professional violinist Dagmar Turner, 53, suffered a seizure while performing with her orchestra. Diagnosed with a brain tumour larger than a golf ball that proved unresponsive to radiotherapy, she was booked into London’s King’s College Hospital for surgery. Since the tumour was located in the right frontal lobe, near the area that controls hand movement and coordination, Ms Turner was fearful she might not be able to play again afterwards. Explaining her concerns to neurosurgeon Keyoumars Ashkan (himself a pianist with a music degree), he proposed an initial MRI brain scan to identify those areas of the brain critical to her violin playing.
Her skull was opened up under general anaesthetic; after regaining consciousness, she was given her instrument with the instruction: “Play, play.” She then entertained Prof Ashkan and his team for three hours as they operated, with a selection ranging from Mahler to Ella Fitzgerald and Julio Iglesias. As she played,
the surgeons used a technique called ‘cortical mapping’, whereby brain tissue is stimulated millimetre by millimetre with a tiny electric probe. If she suddenly stopped playing or went out of tune, they knew that part of the brain was crucial to her musicianship. Ninety per cent of the 8cm by 4cm (3in by 1.5in) tumour was successfully removed, and Ms Turner was back home with her family three days later.
“The violin is my passion. The thought of losing my ability to play was heart-breaking,” she said. “Prof Ashkan and the team at King’s went out of their way to plan the operation – even planning the position I needed to be in to play. Thanks to them I’m hoping to be back with my orchestra very soon.” D.Mail; Metro; Sun, 19 Feb 2020.