Diagnosis
Brainstem tumor
Patient:
Teenager, 17 years old, Kazakhstan
Doctor:
Prof. Martin Scholz, Chief Physician at the Duisburg Neurosurgery Hospital
Patient complaints
Dizziness in the morning, nausea, weakness, sleepiness, heavy breathing, sweating, headaches.
Response from neurosurgeon Prof. Martin Scholz
The tumor is located mainly in the left side of the medulla oblongata and has clearly defined edges. I assume, therefore, that we are dealing with a WHO grade 1 astrocytoma and consider surgical removal of the tumor to definitely be possible. The operation should be performed, of course, with neurophysiologic monitoring with registration of somato-sensory triggered potentials. I recommend performing the operation in the sitting position with medial suboccipital trepanation through the occipital opening.
We are ready to accommodate the patient and perform the surgery.
Questions from patients' parents
- Which risks are associated with the surgery?
Physician's Answer
It is clear that this kind of surgery is associated with certain risks, which include unilateral paresis, paralysis of arms and legs or respiratory paralysis. But with the use of modern neuromonitoring, we can monitor these functions very well during the surgery. Four weeks ago, I operated on a young girl with cavernous angioma of the medulla oblongata and tetraparesis that occurred before surgery. She has recovered very well after surgery.
The boy has no other chance but surgical removal of the tumor. If the evoked potentials (we are talking about neurophysiologic monitoring) become weaker, further resection will be stopped.
Follow-up treatment depends on the result of the histological analysis of the removed tumor material.
Estimated cost of treatment: 30,000 €