Nair Hospital Surgeons Remove World’s Largest Brain Tumour Weighing 1.8kg

Mr. Santlal Pal, male aged 31 years, a cloth vendor was admitted in the Department of Neurosurgery of B. Y. L. Nair Charitable Hospital and Topiwala National Medical College, Mumbai Central with progressive swelling of scalp, heaviness, headaches, and dimunition of vision in both eyes since one year. On examination he had a firm scalp swelling measuring 30 x 30 x 20 cms. It appeared as if he had two heads mounted on top of each other. The scalp vessels were tortuous and dilated. The patient was blind.

The patient was investigated with CT and MR scans of the brain. Specialised CT angiography was performed to study blood supply of the tumor. The tumor was noted to have invaded into the brain on both sides of the midline through skull bone.

The patient and his relatives were explained the High Risk of surgery, He underwent a successful seven-hour long operation to surgically excise the brain tumor by a team led by Dr. Trimurti D Nadkarni, Professor and Head of Neurosurgery, Nair Hospital.The patient required transfusion of 11 units of blood. He was on ventilatory support for 3 days. The tumor was totally excised along with involved skull bone and that which had invaded into the brain. The tumor weighed 1.873 kgs which is the largest weight of a brain tumor to be excised successfully in the world.

Dr. Nadkarni informs that such large tumors are rare and are a surgical challenge. There is a heavy blood loss and this requires great team skill in perioperative monitoring for a successful result. The weight of a similar case reported earlier has been 1.4 kgs.

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The patient has made good recovery and is now ambulatory and on full diet. He feels relieved of "a large burden on his head".

Dr. Ramesh Bharmal, Dean, Nair Hospital states that Nair Hospital is well equipped to manage such complex cases and yield results at par with best healthcare facilities.