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In Reply.—
I am most distressed to learn that neurosurgeons at Mayo, whom I have admired and worked with for 26 years, think that I am critical of their (or any neurosurgeon's) achievements. I heartily apologize for creating this feeling.The entire intent of this clinical study was to see whether there was a particular neurological picture consistently present at the time cerebral arteriography showed vasospasm (or no vasospasm), and to inspect the relationship of "known vasospasm" or "no vasospasm" to the subsequent course of the illness. The neurosurgeons point out that during this period they performed 261 procedures on 249 patients, with an overall mortality of 11%, and that the mortality decreased from 22% in 1968 to 6% in 1972. They contend that my reported mortality of 19% is not representative of the actual results from surgery during the time period reported in the article. The response by the Department of