Dubai: The eyesight of a 38 year-old Filipino was restored after a surgical team at Tawam Hospital in Al Ain operated on his brain. The patient was reportedly suffering from pituitary tumour, which impaired his vision by blurring objects that lay on the outer range of his peripheral vision.
According to an Arabic newspaper, the tumour in the patient’s pituitary glands was putting pressure on his optic nerve. By operating on the patient’s tumour, doctors managed to alleviate the pressure and subsequently restore the patient’s eyesight.
The patient was referred to Tawam Hospital after MRI scans showed a large tumour on his pituitary gland. The pituitary gland is a pea-sized endocrine gland situated at the base of the brain. Hormones secreted from the pituitary gland help control growth, blood pressure, certain functions of the sex organs, thyroid glands and metabolism.
Dr Mohammad Bin Lahej Falasi, Ear, Nose and Throat consultant at the hospital and head of the surgical team, said that the operation was a great success. “The patient regained his full visual abilities,” he told the Arabic newspaper. “These cases occur as a result of thyroid injury, pituitary bleeding or tumours, all of which can lead to loss of vision in a patient.”
Dr Falasi added that the medical team performed a microsurgery, where there was no need to open the patient’s skull. “Through this new approach, we greatly diminish the chances of complications,” he said. “Conventional methods which require the patient’s skull to be breached are not very effective as they do not guarantee the removal of the tumour.”
