Press Coverage

Tumor Removed from 16-year-old Patna Boy’s Brain in Complex Surgery at Paras Hospitals, Gurgaon; Lost Vision Restored in Both Eyes

An 16-year-old boy from Bihar who was progressively losing vision in both eyes due to a growing tumor inside his brain has been operated successfully at Paras Hospitals, Gurgaon, with not only the tumor removed from the brain but his vision in both eyes also restored.

Doctors say reversal and restoration of vision in both his eyes is a special and rare achievement in such cases. As the child completely lost his vision in both the eyes and even there was no perception of light and no pupil actions for more than two and a half month in right eye and about a week in his left eye .

16 year old Ashish Ranjhan from Bihar first complained of blurred vision in his right eye in December 2015, following which his parents consulted an ophthalmologist who recommended with some medicines and spectacles. However, despite repeated consultations with the ophthalmologist, the vision in his right eye continued to blur until it was lost completely and even there is no perception of light and both the pupil were dilated.

As his condition continued to deteriorate, an MRI conducted at Paras Hospitals, Patna revealed the presence of a tumor and highlighted the need for surgical removal. Also one of their know to , who is Member of Parliament suggested to get the treatment from Paras Hospitals, Gurgaon . In the meantime, the boy lost his vision from the left eye also and the parents rushed him to Paras Hospitals, Gurgaon to consult Dr. (Prof.) V. S. Mehta, Padamshree, Director, Neurosciences.
The boy reached the hospital on Feb 13, 2016, 10:00 AM and gauging his serious and worsening health condition, the team of Paras Hospitals, Gurgaon didn’t take any time for the registration, admitting him directly to ICU.

After a thorough examination, Dr Mehta and his team concluded that there was urgent need to surgically remove the tumor to prevent further harm to the patient. The tumor was located in the supracellar Tumor located between the optic nerves and the carotid arteries and severely compressing both the optic nerves.

“The tumor was growing and it was progressively affecting optic nerve. It had already damaged the boy’s vision in both eyes completely even there was no perception of light, both pupil were dilated and no reaction to light and further delay in removing it could have been extremely dangerous to the life of the child. Tumors in the brain can be very harmful and affect a patient in unforeseen ways if they cause brain damage. We realized immediately that the only chance of saving the child’s vision was to take a chance of removing tumor. However, we were not sure of the possibility of saving his vision since not many cases in medical history have shown us a reversal of damaged vision in such cases,” said Dr Mehta.

His parents were then counseled about the boy’s condition and the medical path ahead and the patient was operated immediately.

Operating a brain is always much more complex than operating any other part of the body since the brain involves an intricate network of highly sensitive nerves and brain cells which control the entire central nervous system. Even a slight damage to the brain can result in dangerous consequences on the entire body including effects such as paralysis, spine damage etc.

However, not only was the tumor successfully removed following a surgery lasting 4 hours in an extremely pleasant result the child also recovered his lost vision when he regained his senses.

Having gone through a very difficult time in their lives, the parents are much relieved and grateful for the saved life and vision of their child.