Surgeons make history by removing a woman’s brain tumor through her eye

Doctors in the UK have just achieved a surgical miracle: removing a person’s brain tumor through their eye.

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

Kaviya was diagnosed with multiple meningiomas (tumors that grow in the meninges, the protective layers of the brain) in 2023, after persistent attacks of headaches and other symptoms. The tumors were located in his cavernous sinus, a network of nerves and vessels found behind the eyes that direct blood flow from the brain.

Usually, doctors tried to remove these tumors through an open craniotomy, a procedure that involves removing a piece of the skull and adjusting the position of the brain to reach the cancer. But as luck would have it, surgeons in recent years have experimented with a new technique to remove tumors from the base of the skull, called Trans-orbital endoscopic approach. And in this case, Kaviya seemed to be a perfect candidate for surgery.

“This technique allows us to remove tumors without opening the skull or having to retract or compress the brain. The minimally invasive nature of the procedure significantly reduces trauma, allowing patients to recover more quickly with minimal visible scars,” he said Asim Sheikh, a consultant skull and neurovascular neurosurgeon in Leeds who performed Kaviya’s surgery, declaration from the hospital.

Doctors first practiced their procedure using 3D replica models that were created using scans of Kaviya’s skull. They performed the surgery in February 2024, which only required making a cut about half an inch long on Kaviya’s eyelid. The cancer was removed using an endoscope (a flexible tube and camera) that surgeons carefully navigated around the eye.

“I was amazed by the recovery,” Kaviya said in a statement from Leeds. “I was only in the hospital for two days, with no side effects or swelling. I feel perfectly fine now. I am very grateful to Mr. Sheikh, Mr. Parmar and the whole team – they reassured me throughout the process.

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

“It is a difficult area to reach, and this (surgery) allows direct access without any compromise of pressure on the brain. So we only reach areas that were once thought to be inoperable, but now are accessible,” Sheikh . said The Telegraph.