Bengaluru doctors give Iraqi woman a new lease of life

City doctors gave 35-year-old Wizdan Khadim from Iraq a new lease of life, by removing a coconut-sized tumour from her head.

Khadim used to have frequent headaches, which gradually spread to her ears and right side of her body. The doctors in Iraq dismissed the case as a symptom of age-related weakness among women. But, after two years, the pain became intolerable.

Khadim started experiencing memory loss, found difficulty in recollecting names and suffered from mobility impairment. She underwent an MRI scan, which revealed a tumour in her brain. It was then that she was referred to Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road for a brain surgery.

“The tumour approximately measured 8x7x6 cm. There were risks of loss of vision in the left eye, given the size of the tumor. It took us more than 10 hours to operate and remove it,” said Dr Rajakumar Deshpande, director, Neurosurgery, Fortis Hospital.

The doctors chose to perform the surgery using computer-assisted advanced neuro-operating 3D microscope.

The technique allows surgeons to navigate inside the skull, with the help of specialised computers that scan the affected area and generate three-dimensional images.