Doctors at Nair Hospital have removed what is said to be largest brain tumour in the world, weighing 1.8 kg, from a 31-year-old man.
The six-hour-long surgery was performed on Santlal Pal on February 14. Doctors said the tumour had cost Mr. Pal his vision, but hoped he would gradually regain his eyesight. Mr. Pal is recuperating in the Intensive Care Unit and in stable condition.
“In fact, the tumour was much bigger than his own head,” said neurosurgeon Dr. Trimurti Nadkarni, who performed the surgery with a five-member team. “We have checked all the available medical texts. We have not found any tumour as big as this,” Dr. Nadkarni said.
A shopkeeper from Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Pal’s tumour had been growing for the past three years. However it grew rapidly over the past one year. Fortunately, only 10% of the tumour grew within the skull. Doctors said pressure applied by the mass of flesh on Mr. Pal’s brain led to loss of vision. Further pressure could have led to complete paralysis and neurological damage.
Dr. Nadkarni said the tumour protruded from the skull and the scalp grew over it. He said, “We had to cut open the scalp and remove the tumour. The part of the tumour within the skull was removed by making an opening in the skull.” Dr. Nadkarni said Mr. Pal required 11 units of blood during surgery and three days of ventilator support later.
Mr. Pal’s wife Manju said that they approached three hospitals in Uttar Pradesh, but all doctors said that the tumour was inoperable. Manju said, “We are praying that he regains his vision.”
The doctors have sent the tumour for tests to detect malignancy. Dr. Nadkarni said in 2002 he had removed a brain tumour weighing 1.4 kg from a patient in KEM Hospital. In Delhi, a tumour the size of two cricket balls was removed in 2008.
