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Have brain surgery and be home for tea
Sophie Goodchild01.10.07
Patients with brain tumours are to be offered fast-track day surgery for the first time.
The procedure, during which the patient remains awake, is being pioneered by Britain's youngest female brain surgeon working with a team based at University College Hospital. Dr Gelareh Zadeh, 35, is a specialist in malignant brain tumours and one of the few female brain surgeons in the world.
Her first patient was 52-year-old businesswoman Deborah Calder, who had the operation in July and has since made a full recovery. Dr Zadeh told the Evening Standard today that there has already been interest from other London hospitals in the work of the Brain Metastatic Clinic and the technique is to be adopted by the NHS.
Until now, patients have had to stay in hospital for up to a week after brain tumour surgery to allow them to recover fully from the after-effects of a general anaesthetic. But with day surgery, doctors can use a local anaesthetic which they inject into the patient's scalp to "freeze" it before making an incision in their skull.
Dr Zadeh said: "The fact the patient can be awake makes them feel a lot better after surgery and it makes it a lot easier for doctors to operate.
"It is also good for cancer patients who cannot tolerate a general anaesthetic. Before, people would have to stay in for at least two days and sometimes up to a week. Deborah chatted to us all during the operation and after observingher and doing a scan we were happy to let her home to her family."
Mrs Calder, who had cancer in her lungs before it spread to her brain, married her partner of 20 years, 72-year-old Johnny, a few days after having the operation. She said: "When I first found out my cancer had spread to the brain I was really shocked and upset, especially as they couldn't say what my chances were.
"But they got me into surgery really quickly and Gelareh was almost like a friend to me. She is so caring, a really exceptional and special person. I trusted her totally and the whole team made me feel very safe."
"It was a bit strange at first when they started putting pins into my head but I knew that if anything went wrong then they would give me a general anaesthetic. By the evening I was at home with my family having a cup of tea. There is no doubt this saved my life. It has given me a whole new lease of life."
More than half of all adult brain tumours are caused by cancer in other parts of the body spreading.
The aim of the Brain Metastatic Clinic is to identify patients with secondary brain tumours so their treatment can be managed effectively. Day brain surgery is already a standard procedure in other countries.
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