Lincoln's 1865 Autopsy Report and Death Certificate

[Houmes]

(05-22-2014 05:57 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  [quote='LincolnToddFan' pid='33343' dateline='1400737301']

Hi Toia. wsanto (Dr. William Santo) of our forum is among the doctors who feel this way. Here is a quote from a post Dr. Santo made on the forum last August:

"Assuming the bullet hadn't crossed the midline (per Dr. Woodward's report), Lincoln's entire right hemisphere was uninjured. The bullet did not significantly injure any major centers in the brain (except Broca's area that controls speech, and some motor and sensory regions). His right hemisphere could have potentially learned, with a lot of rehabilitation, some of the functions that were damaged on the left. I disagree that he would have survived as a "vegetable". He very well may have survived and been able think, learn, and communicate in a useful way."

I should emphasize that Bill is referring to 2014 medical knowledge, not 1865.

I respectfully disagree with Dr. Santo's belief that President Lincoln could have survived with modern medicare care today, and if Lincoln did survive he would not be in a vegitative or profoundly limited state. His argument echoes the presentation of Dr. Thomas Scalea at the University of Maryland Clinical Conference in 2007, and both doctors suggest they have not seen or had access to Dr Robert King Stone's autopsy documentation made during the autopsy. Or perhaps they have a great deal of hubris. Dr. Stone recorded far more brain damage than any of the other accounts made later by the pathologists, Dr. Joseph A. Barnes, personal letters made by those at the autopsy, or later journal reports. Dr. Stone noted the central structures of the brain including the ventricle (producing cerebral spinal fluid cushions and provides nutrients to the brain), thalamus (coordinates motor, sensory actions in the body, and state of consciousness), optic nerve (vision), and left frontal lobe were massively damaged. In Dr Stone's words, it "ploughed" through them, basically destroying the left side of the brain.