Old man suffering from nasal cancer gets his face restored

New Delhi: A 69-year-old man who suffered from a rare nasal cancer, which threatened to disfigure his face, has undergone a massive reconstructive surgery at a hospital here that has restored the original look of his face.

Rajendra Prasad Aggarwal, a resident of Rohini's Sector 8 was admitted to the hospital in last week of May with complaints of bleeding from nose, headache, mild fever, post nasal discharge, swelling in the face and eye enlargement.

The MRI and biopsy revealed a rare type of cancer caused by secretory glands, in medical terms called Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma, said Kapil Kumar, Director and Head of Department of Surgical Oncology at the BLK Cancer Centre of the BLK Super Speciality Hospital.

"It was also found that the cancer has spread across the face. We decided to approach the tumour from both above and below the face thereby ensuring complete tumour removal without producing damage to the brain, nerves," Kumar said.

"The approach to the tumour was made through first incision over the face and the second over the scalp. Part of the skull bone was initially removed to enter the brain, which was then replaced back and fixed with screws at the end of the procedure," said Vikas Gupta, Head Neurosurgery at the Hospital.

Once the deadly tumour was removed, it was time to reconstruct his face and he was kept under specialised care of intensivist, Kumar added.

Then the final phase involved 'plugging all the gaps and holes' and giving a shape to the lost contour of the face. The entire surgery, which took place recently lasted over 12 hours.

Aggarwal's case was then taken over by Sandeep Mehta, onco-reconstructive surgeon, Additional Director of Surgical Oncology at the hospital.

"In Aggarwal's case, the cheek bones were reconstructed using Biopore, a linear, high-density polyethylene biomaterial which is biocompatible and porous. This is available in sheets which are carved in the required dimensions and shape to fit the defect properly," Mehta said.

"This reconstructed framework was then covered with a pericranial flap, a vascular flap taken from the top of skull bone. Additionally a muscle from the temple was then used to reconstruct the cheek area and provide a barrier between the brain and oral and nasal cavities," he said.