This man’s brain tumor was so big that it sat like a head on top
of another head
For the past several years,
Santlal Pal had been watching a tumor emerge from his skull.
Doctors
in India say Pal's brain tumor grew so big that it weighed
nearly four pounds and measured
nearly 8-by-12-by-12 inches, according to local news reports.
It may have been the largest
brain tumor in the world. But now it is gone: Doctors successfully removed the
mass during an intensive, six-hour operation on Valentine's Day.
Trimurti
Nadkarni, head of the neurosurgery department at Nair Hospital in Mumbai, told
the Indian Express that the tumor “sat like a head on top of another
head.” Surgeons “had to cut through the bone,” Nadkarni said. “The sheer
size of the tumor was a challenge, and we had to ensure blood pressure was
maintained while surgery was on.”
More
than a week after the surgery, Nadkarni
told BBC News that Pal, a 31-year-old shopkeeper in the state
of Uttar Pradesh, is “out of danger. Now it's a matter of recovery.”
The Hindu
news site reported that Pal's brain tumor had been growing for several years
— most rapidly in the past year. The mass was clinging to the back of
Pal's head; his skull and hair grew over it. The mass appeared as large or
larger than Pal's head.
“In a month, it grew over an
inch,” his brother Akhilesh Pal told the Indian Express.
Following treatment,
including chemotherapy, the mass continued to grow, Akhilesh
Pal said. “He would feel a heaviness in his head, which ached constantly,
and his vision was blurred,” he told the newspaper.
Pal’s wife, Manju, told the Hindu
that the couple consulted several doctors in Uttar Pradesh but were told that
the tumor was inoperable.
Doctors said about 10
percent of the tumor was growing within Pal's skull, putting pressure on his
brain and causing him to lose his eyesight; if not treated successfully, it
could have caused neurological damage or paralysis.
Surgeons at Nair
Hospital took it on.
“We had to cut open the scalp
and remove the tumor,” Nadkarni, the neurosurgeon, told the Hindu. “The part of
the tumor within the skull was removed by making an opening in the skull.”
Nadkarni said Pal received 11
units of blood during the operation and that, for three days after the
procedure, he was on a ventilator to breathe. “Such cases are
critical,” the surgeon told the BBC.
Doctors are now waiting to
see whether Pal will regain his eyesight. “We are praying that
he regains his vision,” Pal’s wife told the Hindu.
There are numerous types of
brain tumors, and surgical removal has its own risks.
If the brain tumor is located
in a place that makes it accessible for an operation, your surgeon will work to
remove as much of the brain tumor as possible.
In some cases, tumors are small
and easy to separate from surrounding brain tissue, which makes complete
surgical removal possible. In other cases, tumors can't be separated from
surrounding tissue or they're located near sensitive areas in your brain,
making surgery risky. In these situations your doctor removes as much of the
tumor as is safe.
Even removing a portion of the
brain tumor may help reduce your signs and symptoms.
Surgery to remove a brain tumor
carries risks, such as infection and bleeding. Other risks may depend on the
part of your brain where your tumor is located. For instance, surgery on a
tumor near nerves that connect to your eyes may carry a risk of vision loss.
Srikant
Balasubramaniam, with the neurosurgery department at Nair Hospital,
told the Indian Express that the medical center treats about 500 brain tumors
per year, half of which are in advanced stages. “The tumor in Pal’s head
grew so much because his surgery was delayed,” he said.
..
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