'World first': Surgeon removes apple sized brain tumours through patients' eyebrows

A Scottish surgeon has found a way to remove brain tumours the size of apples through patients' eyebrows, in what is believed to be a world-first.

Consultant neurosurgeon Anastasios Giamouriadis of NHS Grampian, has adapted an existing technique of keyhole surgery to remove much larger tumours from the front of the brain than was previously the case.

The new method takes far less time to complete than a conventional craniotomy, which involves removing a large part of the skull and can take up to eight hours to complete.

Mr Giamouriadis said his keyhole method takes half that time and some patients are even able to leave the hospital the next day.

“I have modified and developed the technique with my team and we are operating on very large brain tumours in the front of the brain and as far back as the middle of the brain,” he explained.“By doing this through the keyhole approach through the eyebrow, it is more challenging technically, but it takes probably half the time – if not less.“The patient will go home the second day and be back to normal life in most occasions within a week or two.

"We are not aware of anywhere else in the world that has managed to remove tumours as large as we have."

Doreen Adams, 75, from Rosemount, Aberdeen, underwent the new procedure last year after she became ill from headaches and had an unsuccessful craniotomy while abroad.

She said she felt "wonderful" after Mr Giamouriadis' procedure and suffered only a "black eye".

“I felt great after the operation,” she said. “I was left with a black eye and it took a while for it to open, but that was all.”

Mr Giamouradis and his team have performed the new procedure on 48 patients so far.

He added that he is working with the University of Aberdeen to teach other surgeons how to perform the new procedure using virtual reality.

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