Surgeons Make History by Removing Woman’s Brain Tumor Through Her Eye

Doctors in the UK have just completed an amazing surgical feat: removing a man’s brain tumor through their eye socket.

Surgeons at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust performed the procedure on 40-year-old Ruvimbo Kavia last year. The surgery, the first of its kind to be carried out in the UK, is intended to be a less invasive treatment for certain tumors located at the base of the skull. Kobia was able to go home from the hospital within days and now has only a small, nondescript scar over her left eye.

In 2023 Kavia was diagnosed with several meningiomas (tumors that grow in the protective layers of the brain), causing constant headaches and other symptoms. The tumors were located in his cavernous sinuses, a network of nerves and vessels found behind the eyes that direct blood flow from the brain.

Typically, doctors will attempt to remove these tumors through an open craniotomy, a procedure that involves removing a portion of the skull and adjusting the position of the brain to reach the cancer. But as luck would have it, in recent years surgeons have been experimenting with a new technique for removing skull base tumors, called Endoscopic trans-orbital approach. And in this case, Kobia appeared as a perfect candidate for surgery.

“This technique allows us to remove the tumor without opening the skull or retracting or compressing the brain. The minimally invasive nature of the procedure significantly reduces trauma, enabling patients to recover quickly with minimal visible scarring,” said Asim Shaikh, a consultant Skullbase and neurovascular neurosurgeon at Leeds who performed Kabia’s surgery. statement from the hospital

Doctors first practiced their procedure using 3D replica models that were created using scans of Kabia’s skull. They performed the surgery in February 2024, which required only about a half-inch cut along Kavia’s eyelid. The cancer is then removed using an endoscope (a flexible tube and camera) that surgeons carefully navigate around the eye socket.

In a statement from Leeds, Kobia said: “I am amazed at the recovery. “I was only in the hospital for two days, with no side effects or swelling. I feel perfectly fine now. I am deeply grateful to Mr. Shaikh, Mr. Parmar and the entire team – they assured me throughout the process.”

Although Kabia had to take three months off work to fully recover, she has since returned to her job. And the growing use of this emerging technology should improve surgical treatment for many other patients with similar cases, doctors say.

“It’s a difficult area to reach, and it is [surgery] Allows direct access without compromising pressure on the brain. So it reaches us in areas that were once considered inaccessible, but are now accessible,” Sheikh to say telegraph.