HMC Surgeons Remove Brain Tumor from Fully Awake Patient
A team of neurosurgeons from Hamad Medical Corporation has successfully removed a complicated brain tumor known as a Glioma through a highly specialized brain tumor removal process. The treatment was carried out with intra-operative neuro-monitoring and cognitive support, making it the first of its sort in Qatar. The 40-year-old patient, who was awake and aware throughout the treatment, was discharged from the hospital five days later in good health.
A team of ten surgery professionals led by Dr. Ghaya Al-Rumaihi, Neurosurgery and Neuro-intervention consultant, at HMC completed the procedure, which lasted 5 hours and entailed the use of the latest MRI and 3-D brain mapping and imaging equipment. Dr. Arun R. Sowran, a neurosurgery specialist, Dr. Kishor Kumar, an anesthesia consultant, Dr. John Berkins, a neuropsychology consultant, Dr. Abdullah O. Olayyan, and Dr. Muhsin Khan, both resident physicians in the Neurosurgery Department, Mr. Mohammad Al Ghazu, a brain electrophysiologist, and anesthesia technicians made up the team.
Because the tumor was so close to the lobe responsible for consciousness and speech in the brain, the operation had to be performed with the patient awake. This allowed the team to remove the tumor without causing any harm to important sections of the brain.
"Not only was the multidisciplinary medical team able to surgically remove the 2nd-degree tumor, but they also succeeded in reducing the epileptic seizures that the patient suffered as a result of this tumor while maintaining brain functional skills, thus improving the patient's life quality," Dr. Ghaya Al-Rumaihi said of the procedure. We'd like to express our gratitude to the patient for their outstanding cooperation and responsiveness to the step-by-step probe of the brain's communicative and memory functionalities, which was carried out using newly introduced intraoperative equipment for language and motor monitoring of the patient's directly in their mother tongue rather than having the monitoring data translated."
Dr. Ghaya Al-Rumaihi described the treatment as follows: the patient was diagnosed with a tumor in the left lobe of the brain three years ago, with subsequent low growth in size causing speech difficulty, seizures, and sudden left arm paralysis. To retain intraoperative surveillance of language and brain cognition functions and limit associated dangers, the procedure had to be performed with the patient wide awake.
Dr. Ghaya described the equipment utilized in the treatment as a high-tech GPS-guided 3-D system that produced consecutive mappings to permit safe navigation in the area to be operated on while causing no injury to healthy brain cells.
"I am proud of HMC's multidisciplinary approach to medical treatment, as well as our achievements in treating complex neuro and cerebral cases in Qatar," Dr. Ghaya said at the end of her message. I am certain that HMC can undertake the most challenging neurosurgical surgeries in Qatar because we have state-of-the-art equipment and an international team of professionals. What motivates us is the fact that our success in this procedure gives hope to other patients with similar illnesses and eliminates the hassle of traveling abroad for treatment for them and their families."
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