a number of coronal images, which are then used to calculate the stereotactic coordinates of the target in the anterior cingulate cortex, where lesions need to be made. Moreover, the MRI enables more precise differentiation of the cell composition, and thus easily permits the identification of the grey matter in that region. This can then be further confirmed with the help of microelectrode recordings. Side effects Patients usually recover from this operation over a period of four days. However, there are cases of subjects being released from hospital after as few as 48 hours after the operation. The mild shorter postoperative complications that are most commonly related to bilateral cingulotomy are typical of head interventions and include but are not limited to nausea, vomiting, and headaches. However, in some cases, patients exhibit seizures that sometimes appear up to two months after the surgical intervention. It has been questioned whether this is relevant and can be attributed to cingulotomy because such seizures were observed in patients who already had a history of this condition. Case studies A 2002 study conducted at the Massachusetts General Hospital analyzed the outcome of bilateral cingulotomy in 44 patients for the treatment of OCD in the period between 1965 and 1986. Patients were followed up over a long term and evaluated based on several criteria: 1) how many of them were responders after a period of six months, 2) how many cingulotomies a patient had undergone before the examination of the effectiveness of the procedure, 3) whether the patient showed any significant change after the most recent procedure, and 4) what the side effects related to the procedure were. The follow-up of the patients produced contradictory results, which indicated that bilateral cingulotomy is not the optimal treatment for OCD. Of the 44 patients, only 32% both fit the "responder" criteria and showed significant improvement compared to the other subjects. Another 14% exhibited some signs of improvement. Multiple cingulotomies correlated with a higher likelihood of continuing to respond to follow-up inquiries (6% more often fit the full "responder" criteria, 11% more often fit the partial "responder" criteria. However, the side effects associated with the procedure were numerous. Among the complaints that patients had after the surgery were apathy and deficits in memory, although these were rarely reported. In addition, some subjects complained of some form of urinary disturbance, ranging from urinary retention to incontinence. Hydrocephalus (2%) and