Case Studies » Brain Tumors
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14 year old girl
An 8th std student with a right sided brain tumor involving
the right tempro-pareital area. She had seizures and
headache.
Follow-up scans initially showed a small lesion which had
progressed in size on subsequent scans.
CT scan images (above) showing the tumor in the right
parietal area (arrows).
An MRI image showing the two components of the tumor (black
arrow-cystic, white arrow-solid). The bright area around the
tumor represents edema (swelling) of the adjacent normal
brain.
She underwent a craniotomy (opening of the skull bone) of
the area overlying the tumor. The tumor was completely
removed (see post-operative scan) and she did very well
post-operatively. There were no adverse consequences of the
surgery. She was discharged on the 3rd day after the
surgery.
Post-operative scan showing complete excision of the tumor
with a little blood in the surgical cavity.
28 Year old lady
Pre-operative images of a lady with a large tumor (white
arrows) arising from the fifth cranial nerve (the nerve
that subserves sensation to a large area of the head and
face and also controls the muscles for chewing). The
location of the tumor makes its removal challenging. The
tumor is abutting on and compressing the brain stem
(vital area controlling consciousness, breathing,
heartbeat among others marked with black arrows). The
tumor was removed through a microsurgical approach.
Post-operative contrast enhanced MRI scans showing no tumor
and no areas of abnormal enhancement.
34 year old gentlemen
A 34 year old gentleman presented with progressively
increasing headache for 2-3 years with blurring of
vision (symptoms of raised intracranial pressure).
CT scan images (above) show a huge 10 cm tumor in the
midline displacing critical structures and causing
increased pressure within the skull.
The patient underwent a craniotomy and successful complete
removal of the tumor. The 8-hour surgery was uneventful
and there were no untoward events during the surgery.
Post-operatively, the patient was conscious and alert
with no limb weakness, but he was unable to speak
(perhaps due to manipulation of areas involved with
speech during the surgery). By the 3rd day, his speech
had completely recovered and he was discharged.
Fortunately, the tumor turned out to be benign
(non-cancerous) and the patient should have a
productive, normal life span subsequently.
His post-operative CT scans are below showing complete
removal of the tumor.
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