Neuro spinal surgeons of Apollo Hospitals successfully operated a Tanzanian citizen to remove a rare spinal cord tumour. The woman had a long and large tumour in her cervical region of the spinal cord and suffered from chronic neck pain for over three years.
Rehana (name changed), a 36-year old house wife from Tanzania was suffering from progressive weakness in limbs, constant pain and disturbance in walking which limited her daily activities. Several medical attempts that she underwent in her native did not yield in any means. Doctors in Tanzania detected a problem in her spinal cord and advised Rehana to undergo a surgery.
Rehana was brought to Apollo Hospitals, Chennai on June 29, 2012 for medical assistance. Post a series of medical examination, neuro surgeons of Apollo Hospitals identified that she had a large tumour that occupied eight centimetres of the central part (intramedullary) of the spinal cord in the neck. Further examinations revealed that the tumour extended from the second to sixth cervical spine and this required an immediate surgery.
During the second week of July, a team of neuro spinal surgeons led by Dr JKBC Parthiban, Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon, Apollo Hospitals took the arduous task of removing the tumour and performed a six hour surgery on the patient. Surgery on tumours involving the spinal cord is one of the most challenging procedures that involve high risk of possibly precipitating the neurological deficits that are disastrous.
Using micro surgical technique the medical team at Apollo Speciality Hospital meticulously removed the entire highly vascular tumour (ependymoma). During the surgical process, the spinal cord was split vertically from the back and the tumour was dissected from the spinal cord neural tissues. It was then removed safely preserving the motor and sensory functions of the patient.
Speaking about the surgical procedure, Dr JKBC Parthiban, Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon said, “This was one of the challenging procedures as spinal cord tumours are dangerous to operate as it is within the spinal cord. However with the use of micro surgical technique, we have removed the tumour in total and Rehana is completely well and she is back to normal life.”
He further elaborated, “Tumours that arise in the cervical region of the spinal cord are rare and pose great challenge to the neurosurgeons. The tumour expands the spinal cord and produces sensory and motor neurological deficits like weakness of limbs and paralysis. Neither all spinal cord tumours are totally removable nor are they greatly amenable for radiotherapy.”
EH News Bureau
