Neurosurgery: Half a Brain Is Better

Many a baby is born with strawberry or port-wine patches on his face, and although these disfiguring birthmarks have given rise to a lot of old wives' tales and maternal self-reproach, most have no medical significance. An exception is the massive port-wine stain with which Michael Wood was born nearly five years ago. The huge birthmark extended from around the right eye down the side of his face to the neck.

To doctors in Brantford, Ont., the mark was the identifying surface symptom of a rare and frightening condition called the Sturge-Weber...

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