A team of doctors at Asian Hospital, Faridabad, gave a new lease of life to a 35-year-old female patient by surgically removing a benign developmental tumor at her left temporal lobe which was closely touching the parts that control memory, speech and understanding of language.

Patient who is a homemaker and a resident of Iraq had been carrying the tumour for 25 years and was feeling miserable all this time.  The surgery which lasted for four hours was performed by team of surgeons, led by Dr. Mukesh Pandey, Associate director Neurosurgery, and Dr. Prashant Singh, Consultant, Neurosurgeryat AIMS.

The problem started when the patient was at a tender age of ten, when she first experienced seizures. After that, every day she had to go through at least 4 to 5 episodes of seizures with many leading to an unconscious state. It is difficult to imagine how miserable her life would have been living with the fear of having a seizure any time of the day. She was taking 10 tablets each day for 25 long years still the seizures were not controlled. At a young age when it was time to hang out with friends and enjoy her life, she was forced to restrict her activities and someone had to be by her side at all times. This continued for the next 25 years till the time she visited Asian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Faridabad.

Before visiting Asian Hospital the young girl consulted several renowned doctors, but all her efforts proved futile and her condition did not improve. Most doctors and hospitals advised against surgery for the fear that post surgery the patient may lose speaking power, suffer a loss of memory and language control.

The disease not only affected her physically but shook her confidence as well. An otherwise social person by nature, she now shied away from meeting people. Eventually, the family approached Asian Hospitals, where the doctors after a thorough assessment, decided to perform the challenging surgery.

Sharing details of the case, Dr. Mukesh Pandey, Associate Director Neurosurgery, said, “At Asian, we did a functional MRI to exactly map the language area which was shown to be touching the tumor. We planned a detailed surgery which was performed under neuronavigation guidance. In the surgery whole of tumor along with temporal neocortex was removed. It was a high-risk surgery as the patient’s tumor was close to the areas of brain controlling memory, speech and language.” Dr. Pandey further added that, “the challenging surgery was accomplished successfully. The results were there to see the very next day. She had no speech or memory complaints and had her breakfast without the fear of upcoming seizure. It has been one month after surgery and for the first time in her life she has not had a seizure for this long duration.”

It has been a fantastic and satisfying outcome for a patient with such a long history of seizures. According to the team at Asian, she will be able to lead a normal life without any further complications. The patient and her family expressed a deep sense of gratitude to Dr. Pandey and his team at Asian Hospital.