Patient with a brain tumor & complex heart problems successfully operated at Nobel

BIRATNAGAR: The vital organs of the body, including the heart, are evaluated prior to any surgery.

The doctor begins the operation only after ensuring that the major organs are intact. If the major organ fails, the operation is stopped since there is a risk that the patient would die during the procedure.

However, brain tumor surgery has been conducted successfully on patients with complex chronic cardiac disease at the Nobel Teaching Hospital in Biratnagar.

Laxmi Devi Koirala of Suklap Tole in Itahari-7 of Sunsari was operated on for a tumor in her pituitary gland.

Koirala’s heart has a limited blood flow capacity due to DCM, a severe chronic heart disease. As a result, despite the risk of death during the operation due to physical weakness and elevated heart rate, the operation was completed successfully in Nobel.

Nobel’s senior neurosurgeon Dr. Prakash Kafle informed that Koirala’s brain tumor was removed without incision by inserting a telescope through the nose. “When patients with heart problems are anesthetized during surgery, there is an anesthetic challenge of whether or not they can be brought back to life,” Dr. Kafle says, “We have successfully performed risky operations as we have a good neuro, cardio and anesthesia team.”

Dr. Kafle, who is also the head of Nobel’s neurosurgery department, led the team that removed Koirala’s brain tumor. The operation was carried out by a team that included neurosurgeon Dr. Edmond Jonathan, Dr. Pramod Chaudhary, cardiologist Prada Rajesh Nepal, Dr. Sahdev Dhungana, NS anesthesiologist Dr. Bandana Poudel, and Dr. Sagar Dahal. Koirala has been suffering from headaches, trouble getting up after sitting, hand pain, hearing loss, and other issues for the past two years. Eye sight was deteriorating as well.

As the situation deteriorated, she was taken to Kathmandu and Siliguri in India for treatment. However, Laxmi’s brother Bhupal Bhattarai recalls that the doctor returned due to cardiac issues. He says, ‘No matter where we took her, she had a heart problem and was returned saying that the surgery could not be done. We thought that there would be no solution after taking her to the hospitals in Kathmandu and Siliguri. Now, after the operation at Nobel, she is fine.’

She has been discharged from the hospital and has returned home following the surgery. Now her eyesight has also returned.

Due to the skilled doctors and state-of-the-art equipment, even complex and rare surgeries have been successfully performed at the Nobel Hospital run by Dr. Sunil Sharma, Member of the House of Representatives.