commissurotomyn.
/ˌkɒmᵻsjəˈrɒtəmi/, /ˌkɒmᵻʃəˈrɒtəmi/, U.S. /ˌkɑməˌʃʊˈrɑdəmi/, /ˌkɑməʃəˈrɑdəmi/ Surgery and Medicine.
1. The procedure of widening the orifice of a valve of the heart, esp. the mitral valve, originally by incisions made at the commissures of the orifice and later also by other techniques; an instance of this.
ΚΠ
1949 C. P. Bailey in Dis. Chest 15 390 Commissurotomy enlarges a stenotic mitral valve orifice and permits valvular function without an appreciable increase in the pre-existing amount of mitral regurgitation.
1957 Amer. Heart Jrnl. 53 922 8 patients with left bundle branch block..underwent aortic commissurotomy for rheumatic aortic stenosis by the transaortic or transpulmonary routes.
1985 New Eng. Jrnl. Med. 12 Dec. 1515/1 It [is now] possible to perform a percutaneous, closed, blind mitral commissurotomy with a blunt dilating instrument.
2013 S. Owitz Beyond this Place 59 Commissurotomy (or widening of the valve aperture) was the procedure of choice for people with mitral stenosis [in 1963].
2. The procedure of incising or dividing a commissure of the nervous system; an instance of this.
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1961 Science 2 June 1753/1 Studies..deal directly with the functional properties of the bisected brain,..with various incomplete patterns and combinations of commissurotomy.
1989 Psychiatric Devel. 7 116 Following commissurotomy, the left and right hemispheres of the split brain patient express different beliefs, emotional reactions, and preferences.
2006 Philosophy 81 487 The experiences of patients who have undergone commissurotomies have been said to demonstrate divisibility of consciousness.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1949