In 1952, Parkinson's disease was successfully treated with surgery for the first time. A team led by Irving Cooper in Islip, New York, operated on the brain of patient Raymond Walker. Before the general availability of L-dopa in 1968, the treatment of Parkinson's disease stressed surgery. An early procedure of choice was the pedunculotomy, to reduce tremour. While performing this procedure in 1952, he unintentionally disturbed the patient's anterior choroidal artery (AChA) and was forced to re-connect the artery and abort the pedunculotomy. When the patient awoke from anesthesia, his tremour and rigidity had disappeared, and his motor and sensory functions were preserved. Cooper then began to ligate the AChA purposely to reduce tremor in patients.
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