Brain tumour removed from 4-yr girl, sans sedatives

Chennai, Dec 21 (UNI) A four-year-old girl underwent radiation treatment without sedation following a micro surgical excision of a tumour near her brain stem at the Apollo Speciality hospital here.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Apollo Speciality hospital Director (Medical Services) Dr Janos Stumpf said three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy was a complex process that began with fabrication of an inconvenient fixative and creation of individual, 3D digital data sets of patient tumours and normal adjacent anatomy.

''These data sets are then used to generate 3D computer images to develop complex plans to deliver highly 'conformed' (focused) radiation while sparing normal adjacent tissue,'' he added.

Explaining the whole process, he said there was a tumour close to the brain stem of the patient, Gautami, which was successfully removed by a combination of surgery and radiation. The girl was suffering from headache and vomiting frequently, he added.

Dr Stumpf said the medical team at Apollo put in special efforts to tutor the patient to undergo the entire procedure without sedation.

''This rare procedure proves that medical technology today has given a new lease of life to patients with chronic ailments and that even brain cancer is no longer to be considered a lost game,'' he claimed.

UNI