PGI adds another feather to its cap

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 21

The PGI today successfully removed a large brain tumour through the nose of a one year and four months old girl child, who is said to be the youngest patient in the world to have such an endoscopic surgery.

According to a press release, the girl from Uttarakhand was referred to the premier institute with complaints of loss of vision.

The child was normal and playful following visual stimuli a few months ago. Later, her mother noticed that the girl was not following anything shown to her.

An MRI scan revealed a calcified brain tumour at the base of the skull - suggestive of craniopharyngioma of size 3 cm, large for a child of one year - and close to critical neural structures such as optic nerves and hypothalamus, the PGI said.

Dr Dhandapani SS and Dr Sushant of the Neurosurgery Department and Dr Rijuneeta of the ENT Department operated upon the toddler.

The large brain tumour was removed through the nose during the six-hour-long surgery earlier this month, the PGI said.

The child was kept in the ICU and recovered well. After 10 days of surgery, she is doing great with improved vision and no complications, with a CT scan showing almost complete removal, according to the PGI.

It claimed that the youngest child reported till date having undergone endoscopic surgery through the nose for such tumours was two years old and operated upon in 2019 in the United States.

These tumours are usually operated upon through open surgery and the remaining part is treated with radiation therapy. Over the past few years, such tumours are being removed through the nose endoscopically by neurosurgeons by teaming with ENT surgeons for patients older than six years, the statement said.

However, endoscopic removal through the nose is highly challenging in small children because of small nostrils, immature bones at the skull base and proximity to crucial blood vessels, it said.

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