A team of neurosurgeons of a private hospital in Chennai has effectively removed two tumours that occurred in both the left and right sides of the brain. The procedures, the surgeons explained, are usually considered very risky due to the position of the tumours in the parieto-occipital area, which is concerned with vision and if complications occurred the patient could become blind.
“The doctors explained that they will first operate on the side that had a slightly larger tumour and there was a chance that I would lose sight. But I was convinced that this was the way forward and after the surgery there was a slight dip in my vision. Then the second surgery was conducted and now I am back home working on my system,” said the 38-year-old engineer who works in the construction industry. The patient had symptoms such as recurrent headaches and reduction in vision for the past three months, which led him to consult doctors and get a scan done.
A team of doctors at Gleneagles Global Health City, headed by senior consultant neurosurgeon Nigel P. Symss, told presspersons that the surgery showed that with advanced equipment and intraoperative neuromonitoring brain tumours can be removed safely. The patient was informed that the delay in the removal of the tumours could result in worsening of vision and other serious complications.
Alok Khullar, CEO, Gleneagles Global Health City, said they were pleased with the outcome of this difficult surgery, given the location of the tumours.
Dinesh Nayak, director of department of neurology and Advanced Centre for Epilepsy, said the incidence of brain tumours ranged from 5 to 10 per 1,00,000 people in India. The first and most common symptom was headache, which could be severe and prolonged, and is often accompanied by vomiting. To confirm the brain tumour, patients must undergo an MRI or CT scan of the brain. Surgery, known as craniotomy and tumour excision, is the way out, he added.
