The American centennial of brain tumor surgery

Early in 1887 the first well-documented total removal of an unequivocal brain tumor in America was carried out in New York City by Robert F. Weir. The patient died during the immediate postoperative period. Later in the same year in Philadelphia, W.W. Keen also removed a large meningioma; his patient lived many years. In 1886, a Dr. Morse in California had probably performed a partial removal of a glioma from a patient who died shortly after the operation. To celebrate the centennial of Keen's triumph, it is worthwhile as well to contemplate the efforts of his contemporaries.