Doctors remove brain tumour through toddler's nose

Doctors at PGIMER Chandigarh removed a large brain tumour through the nose from the world’s 'youngest-ever patient'. The brain tumour was removed through the toddler's nose.

Chandigarh:Doctors at Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) Chandigarh successfully removed a large brain tumour through the nose of a 16-month-old girl, probably the youngest patient in the world to have such a nasal endoscopic surgery.

The girl from Uttarakhand was referred to PGIMER with complaints of loss of vision. The child was normal and playful following visual stimuli a few months back. But later, the mother noticed that the girl was not following anything shown to her.

It was only during Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan that parents discovered that the child had developed a brain tumour.

Doctors of the neurosurgery department -- Dr Dhandapani S S and Dr Sushant -- 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.

"These tumours are usually operated on through open surgery but for patients older than six years old. Despite the enormous challenge, Dr Dhandapani''s team chose the endonasal corridor, as the skull opening and brain retraction are avoided if operated through the nose. The team studied the child elaborately using CT angiography navigation and planned for endoscopy," the doctors said.

The doctors said that performing open surgeries on a toddler could have impacted her brain.

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 in 2019 in Stanford, US.

With PTI inputs