Press Coverage

• Challenging case of brain tumor where surgery required 6-7 hours
• Endoscopically conducted surgery – a rare procedure in India; only two to three neurosurgeons are trained in this procedure

Gurgaon: July 18, 2017: In a rare surgical intervention, not only in Delhi NCR but in India itself, a patient from Iraq was granted a gift of life at Paras Hospital Gurgaon when treated for a tumor in her brain. The complex tumor was removed by a minimal incision of 2X2 centimeters assisted by using the endoscopic procedure. This is a procedure that requires very high levels of skill and medical excellence and only a handful of neurosurgeons are trained in this in India. As opposed to the conventional procedure that would give an incision of almost10-15centimetres and the skull of the patient would be opened, this procedure is minimally invasive. The team of doctors that treated his patient was led by Dr. Sumit Sinha, Director, Department of Neurosurgery, Paras Hospital, Gurgaon.

Fartima Gazi, a 43-year-old patient suffered from symptoms due to a significant size of tumor that lay next to the main artery that supplies blood to the brain. She had been suffering since 16 years. What had started as a non-benign cyst grew slowly into a 4X3X2 centimeters benign tumor. The patient was experiencing episodes of seizure from the year 2001, initially with two episodes each day each lasting few seconds. These would attack her at any time in the day. This eventually led to up-rolling of eyes, fecal or urinary incontinence and additionally, frothing from the mouth. The worsening of her condition consequently led to diplopia or the occurrence of double vision. This can increase risks of accidents in a patient as they see everything in double images. She also experienced consistent headaches through out the day which impacted her daily routines significantly.

Dr. Sumit Sinha, Director, Neurosurgery, Paras Hospital Gurgaon says, “These kind of surgeries in neurosciences are common. But what made this case rare was the complexity of the location of the tumor. The benign cyst lay right next to the carotid artery, one of the major blood vessels and a bit of it next to the optic nerve. We had to work very diligently to remove the tumor endoscopically. This is challenging because of the size, the location of the tumor, the age of the patient and the fact that the tumor had been lying over a decade and a half. Additionally, while detecting the location of the tumor, the patient’s reports also showed a cyst in her lung as well. This was impacting her breathing rendering her breathless frequently and this had to be removed.”

The patient expressed her gratitude to her doctor and said, “I was undergoing so much pain that every day was a living hell for me. It is after such a long time that I have been relieved of pain that it seems unreal. My family wishes to sincerely thank the doctors who have cured me of my severe condition to grant me a normal life back.”

A report of a research conducted globally reveals the incidence rate of all primary malignant and non-malignant brain and other CNS tumors is 22.36 cases per 100,000 for a total count of 368,117 incident tumors; (7.18 per 100,000 for malignant tumors for a total count of 117,906 incident tumors and 15.18 per 100,000 for non-malignant tumors for a total count of 250,211 incident tumors). The rate is higher in females (24.46 per 100,000 for a total count of 213,301 incident tumors) than in males (20.10 per 100,000 for a total count of 154,816 incident tumors).The worldwide incidence rate of primary malignant brain and other CNS tumors in 2012, age-adjusted using the world standard population, was 3.4 per 100,000. Incidence rates by gender were 3.9 per 100,000 in males and 3.0 per 100,000 in females. This represented an estimated 139,608 males and 116,605 females who were diagnosed worldwide with a primary malignant brain tumor in 2012, an overall total of 256,213 individuals.² The incidence rates were higher in more developed countries (5.1 per 100,000) than in less developed countries (3.0 per 100,000).

ABOUT Paras Health

Paras Health was founded in 2006. The key specialties that are mainly focused in all units are –Neurosurgery, Neurology, Cancer Care, Orthopedics & Joint Replacement, Urology, Nephrology, Kidney Transplant, Cardiology, Cardiac Sciences, Gastroenterology & GI Surgery, General & Lap Surgery along with Plastic Surgery to list a few. Approximately each unit has at least 30 specialties and super specialties.