Italian woman prepares olive ascolane during operation to remove brain tumour.

A 60-year-old Italian woman prepared stuffed olives while having an operation to remove a brain tumour at an Ancona hospital on 9 June, reports Italian news agency ANSA.

The woman, from the Abruzzo region of Italy, made 90 Ascoli-style stuffed olives in less than an hour, according to ANSA.

The tumour was removed successfully from the woman's left temporal lobe, with neurosurgeon Roberto Trignani telling ANSA that the 2.5-hour procedure went "very well."

Over the last five years Trignani has carried out around 60 operations with patients conscious and engaged in other activities, including one patient who played the violin.

The neurosurgeon told ANSA that the method enables doctors to "monitor the patient while we are intervening on brain functions and to calibrate our action."

Photo ANSA