Neurosurgeons of Metro Hospital Performed Successful Endoscopic Brain Tumour Surgery for Rare Case of Gigantism

Recently, a 20 year old male patient from Iraq visited Metro Hospital Faridabad with a rare disease known as Gigantism for which he underwent a successful endoscopic brain tumour surgery through nose.

Patient was suffering from Acromegaly (Gigantism) which means out of proportion growth of body parts caused by non-cancerous tumour in the pituitary gland of the brain. This type of tumor produces excessive levels of growth hormone resulting in unusual growth of the body. Patient was living a difficult life, because of unusual growth of his hands, feet and face. His facial features were becoming like a gorilla.

The condition is quite rare, with an estimated three cases diagnosed out of a million people each year. Acromegaly most often occurs in middle-aged men and women. In children, excess of growth hormone causes gigantism. Overabundance of growth hormone can reduce life span and lowers quality of life, so it is important to control hormone levels and the tumour itself. Other symptoms of this brain tumour are headache and vision loss. Acromegaly predisposes to a number of medical conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases and sleep apnea. Considering the same, the patient’s family consulted Dr. Tarun Sharma, Director & Dr. Sachin Goel, Sr. Consultant from Neuro & Spine surgery unit of the hospital. To be sure about the associated medical conditions of the patient, all initial investigations were done and it was found that the patient’s heart has become weak because of unusual growth. Patient had total vision loss in left eye also, so pre-operative assessment of his visual function was done.

Dr. Tarun Sharma said “considering patient’s condition, we planned to remove the tumour through minimally invasive trans-sphenodial route (through nose) in which the endoscope was introduced through the nose and the tumour was removed from the skull base area, this is a stichless surgery and neuro navigation system was used for precise excision of the tumour.” Surgery was uneventful, and a 3x2cm tumour was removed from the patient’s pituitary gland. Patient was stable after the surgery and his vision loss improved.

After removing the tumour, level of growth hormones started reducing, relieving the pressure on the surrounding tissue. Often, facial features start returning to normal and swelling of body improves within a few days.

Dr. Sachin Goel said that “It was technically a challenging case which required great surgical expertise, world class equipment’s and strong critical care set up, Metro Hospital made this job easy for our entire team and the patient. “