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The skull still open, a South African musician with a brain tumor played several notes on his guitar during a successful operation aimed at removing the essential of growth.
Musa Manzini's guitar playing has helped guide the medical team in its delicate task while preserving the neural pathways, said Dr. Rohen Harrichandparsad, one of the neurosurgeons. Manzini was anesthetized locally during what doctors call a "waking craniotomy" this month at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in Durban.
"This increased the margin of safety for us because we could have a real-time feedback on what we were doing intraoperatively," said Harrichandparsad on Saturday during a phone interview with The Associated Press.
ONYEKAVALENTINE ILORAH / AP
The South African musician with a brain tumor played several notes on his guitar during a successful operation.
The procedure is not uncommon and, in other countries, musicians played an instrument or sang in similar operations. The intention was to test "Manzini's ability to produce music", which requires the complex interaction of pathways in the brain, the doctor said.
READ MORE: A jazz musician plays the saxophone during his brain operation
Manzini received his guitar towards the end of the procedure, while the doctors checked that everything was in order.
A photo and a video taken by the medical team show Manzini lying with his guitar in the operating room.
"Here, do your thing," said a member of the team beginning to play.
Beginning slowly, Manzini chooses a series of notes and moves slowly towards a melody, accompanied by the beeps of the monitors.
As part of a "waking craniotomy", some doctors stimulate parts of the brain with a light electric current to test and map areas controlling key functions such as movement and speech. For example, doctors know they need to protect it during removal of the tumor.
Despite the name of the procedure, patients are given medication to make them sleepy during parts of the long operation.
In 2015, a musician played his saxophone during a brain operation in Spain. An opera singer sang during a brain operation in the Netherlands in 2014.
Dr. Basil Enicker, another neurosurgeon who operated on Manzini, said that 90% of the tumor had been removed and that the musician was at home near Durban and was doing well.
"Our main goal was to make sure we are doing our best for our patient," Enicker said. He said the public response to the announcement of the operation was very positive.
"We are pleasantly surprised," he said.
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