For them, surgery a no-brainer

With two doctors from a hospital in Dehradun creating history of sorts by performing record-breaking operations, you could be forgiven for thinking brain surgery is easy.

Earlier this month, Dr Charitesh Gupta of the Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences successfully removed nine tumours from the brain of a 78-year-old patient during a gruelling six-hour surgery.  HS Aggarwal — who had been operated twice previously at Apollo Hospital in Delhi and once at the same hospital, and had suffered two crippling paralytic attacks due to the tumours — was discharged on Tuesday and is well on his way to a full recovery.

“The patient is recovering very well and has in fact started feeding himself. We are hopeful he will be able to regain his health and vigour within the next two to three months,” said Dr Gupta.Although all nine tumours were found to be benign, tests conducted after the operation suggested they could have turned malignant soon.

"After spending 10 days in hospital after the operation, I was discharged yesterday. I am feeling fine now and hope to recover completely," said a beaming Aggarwal.

An associate professor at the hospital’s neurosurgery department, Dr Gupta bettered the record of his colleague Dr K.K. Bansal, who finds mention in the Guinness Book of World Records for a similar feat. In April 2004, Dr Bansal had removed eight tumours from the brain of a 40-year-old woman at a single sitting.

The patient, Kamla Devi, had 13 tumours on the right side of her brain and was suffering from severe headache and bouts of epilepsy. Dr Bansal removed eight tumours responsible for the epilepsy. Kamla's headache and epilepsy are now under control and no new tumours have been detected. Recognizing his achievement, the Guinness Book of World Records awarded Dr Bansal a certificate last month.

"It was a rare accomplishment, considering the fact that the patient was unable to walk before we operated. I met her again a week ago and she is as normal and healthy as any woman in her early 40s," said Dr Bansal.

Email Utpal Parashar: utpal_ddun@rediffmail.com