90-year-old patient treated for brain tumour

New Delhi: A nonagenarian with an acute onset of slurred speech and weakness in the right side of the body which was, later, diagnosed as a tumour ( 5cm) in his brain, got a new lease of life after a minimally invasive microscopic brain surgery at private hospital in Delhi. Dr Sonal Gupta, Director and Head, Neurosurgery said, "The MRI reports revealed a large brain tumour sitting on the left side of the brain. The brain tumour was suggestive of meningioma (A benign brain tumour arising from the layer of the membrane covering the brain).

Experts informed that the tumour with swelling was pressing the part of the brain controlling the power of body's right side and also troubling the speech centre in the brain. This likely caused a fit followed by a paralytic attack with slurred speech. The patient was given steroids and medications to suppress the swelling and to prevent fits. Thereafter, the patient underwent a 3-hour long brain surgery. For the surgery, the skull was reconstructed by putting back the bone flap and fixing it back with clamps. "The patient's age was the biggest challenge. We discussed the option of surgery and its risks versus conservative management with anticonvulsants with the family. It was decided that the patient should be evaluated by an anaesthetist and a cardiologist for risk assessment of the brain surgery and a call should be taken on further course of surgery," doctor explained. "As the patient had no co-morbidities, the family gave go-ahead for the surgery. Despite his age, the patient responded very well to the treatment and was fully conscious within half an hour of surgery," the doctor added.

The patient has now fully recovered with his speech back to normal and is free from distorted state. According to the patient, there is only a warrior wound (surgery mark) on the head which reminds him of the surgery.