Indian surgeons perform complex brain surgery on Ghanaian patient with Arteriovenous Malformation

New Delhi: A patient from Ghana, Africa, who came to India to be treated for a complex brain disorder underwent a rare kind of neuro surgery at a reputed hospital in Bengaluru earlier this month.

The challenging surgery, which took eight hours, was performed by surgeons at Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road in Bengaluru.

The patient, who was suffering from Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM) - a tangle of abnormal blood vessels connecting arteries and veins in the brain - which led to hemorrhage.

The 33-year-old foreign national patient was admitted with complaint of persistent headache and diagnosed with multiple weak and bleeding blood vessels under his skull.

During the operation, the doctors clipped the aneurysms and excised AVM to prevent further bleeding.

The condition was so complex that any bleeding during his travel to India or on the operation table, could have led to a stroke or death.

An AVM disrupts this process of blood supply to the body carried out by arteries and veins. It is most often seen in brain or spine.

The cause for it remains unknown but it's usually formed later in life. When there is a rupture in AVM it leads to hemorrhage. This usually causes no symptoms and often goes unnoticed. Depending on the severity of the hemorrhage, brain damage or death may result.

Emanuel, who came to India to get the rare condition treated, was also diagnosed with three aneurysms.

Doctors, who operated on him, said they had to to take several cautions at every step during the surgery. The challenge was to maintain the blood in the brain.The surgery was a success and doctors hope that within a few months, the patient will be completely normal like earlier days.

“In such patients, we anticipate they can have temporary deficits which can be recovered over time. I think this patient, in the next three-four months, or even earlier, will return to his normal self, ”Dr Deshpande V Rajakumar, Director, Neurosurgery, Fortis Hospital said.

Dr Rajkumar described the Ghanaian's case as 'rare', as there are less than 5,000 people in the country suffering from AVM and multiple aneurysms at the same time.

After three weeks of surgery, the patient currently finds himself in a very comfortable state, he added.

(With ANI inputs)