Doctors at Max Hospital Gurugram successfully removed a tennis ball-sized tumour from the head of a 28-year-old young female, who had been persistently complaining of severe headache for over two months. Pertaining to the size and hard to access location of the tumour, doctors made use of the minimally invasive endoscopic transnasal trans-sphenoidal (TNTS) method to access the tumour through her nose. The patient was not only cured completely but her functional and aesthetic outcomes have also been preserved.
While headache seems to be a common complaint attributed to daily life stress, noise pollution, and /or an underlying medical ailment, the persistent headache should seldom be ignored. Since the patient was having severe intermittent headaches for over two months, made a visit to Max Hospital Gurugram. Upon examination, doctors found a tennis ball-sized tumour in the head.
“The non-cancerous tumour was almost the size of a tennis ball and located at the pituitary gland (which is a pea-sized gland at the base of the brain). She was suffering from a condition known as Pituitary Macroadenoma which is caused by mutations in the DNA of the cells in the pituitary gland.
While the patient upon consultation did not show any signs of nasal discharge, giddiness, visual disturbance and she showed no symptoms of hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, she was also opinionated by various departments including Ophthalmology, Neurosurgery, and Endocrinology, pre-operatively.” Said Dr Ravinder Gera, Director and Head of Department, ENT, Max Hospital, Gurugram
While the ophthalmological results were not suggestive of any visual field defects, brain MRI was advised that revealed a well-defined sellar (region around pituitary gland) mass lesion, that was extending into the suprasellar region (fluid-filled space between pituitary and hypothalamus gland) causing superior displacement of the optic chiasma (crossing of the two optic nerves below the brain).
“Being a young female, she was worried about the post complications of the surgery, and her quality of life. But with recent technological advancements available, we performed a transnasal trans-sphenoidal (TNTS) excision or surgical removal of pituitary macroadenoma along with the neurosurgery team under aseptic conditions using endoscopic guidance. The tumour was visualised and was removed completely. The patient has improved post-surgery and resumed normal day-to-day functions.” Added Dr Gera