NEW DELHI:
A 57-year-old man, Babiker Hassabelgawi Ahmed from Sudan, who underwent a tumour removal surgery 15 years back, did not have any problems till 2018.
He was diagnosed with his first tumour on the left side of his head at the age of 42 and got it surgically removed in Sudan. Two years back he started having a few episodes of seizure and noticed a small nodule over his forehead a year back, which exponentially increased in size within seven-eight months. By that time, the skin around the tumour mass eroded, his health deteriorated and he started having frequent seizures.
His health did not improve while he was dealing with his condition through medication. He was advised to have an MRI scan by experts in Sudan, which he neglected to do. Within a short span of time the tumour grew, breaking the skin of the forehead and making it the shape of a horse-shoe.
On July 17, 2019, he came to Aakash Healthcare Super Speciality Hospital in Dwarka here in a bad shape from Sudan. The size of his forehead tumour was of 6cmx8cm long outside and 18cmx12cm deep inside, the brain. It had turned malignant due to sheer negligence.
“Seeing Mr Ahmed”s case, we planned to do surgical removal through bicoronal flap mobilisation, strip craniotomy and excision of the complete bone tumour, exteriorisation of frontal sinus and duroplasty by artificial dura and cranioplasty by titanium mesh and flap tailoring to close the galea,” said Amit Srivastava, Director and Senior Consultant Neuro Surgery at Aakash Healthcare.
The condition which he was suffering from is called invasive anaplastic meningioma WHO Grade III arising from frontal convexity dura and falx.
“We created a flab on the forehead skin, since skin was involved, we had to remove the upper lining and bones in the brain along with the tumour, as it was hugely spread across the forehead skull and skin,” Srivastava said.
“The area above the nose and the middle of the forehead which was affected due to the tumour was removed and thigh fascia and fat was used to re-graft that area,” he added.
The surgery was completed successfully after almost 11-12 hours with a team of three doctors. These kind of tumours are usually due to some genetic disorders.
“This hospital extended all possible support to us and the entire team of doctors were very comforting and helpful. Our case was treated on priority and I was given a second chance to life,” Ahmed said.
The patient was discharged on the seventh day after surgery and is fine now. His urinary incontinence and blurry vision have been managed but he will be on medication for a few months.
