Age No Bar – Giant Brain Tumour Successfully Removed in Octogenarian at Kauvery Hospital, Radial Road

Chennai, India (25 November 2023) Mrs KS, aged 81 years, has been living with her daughter
in Boston, United States, for 15 years. In the past three months, she experienced increased
difficulty in walking and cognitive functioning. This also led to her being prone to falls. She
had a history of bilateral knee replacement but was otherwise leading a normal life.
The doctors she consulted in the US noticed that apart from the aforesaid imbalance, Mrs KS
also had reduced hearing in her right ear and poor coordination while using her right hand.
On further investigation, they found that she had a large brain tumour arising from her
hearing nerve and had recommended an immediate surgery. Mrs KS and her family sought
medical advice from different hospitals in the US and India and finally decided to get treated
by Dr Krish Sridhar at Kauvery Hospital, Radial Road, Chennai, following a series of video
consultations with him.
Dr Krish Sridhar, Group Mentor and Director, Institute of Brain and Spine, said, “We had to
remove a giant vestibular schwannoma, a surgery that took nearly 10 hours. The surgical
removal of vestibular schwannoma is always particularly tricky, especially when it is a large
tumour (more than 4.5 cm in diameter) as in the case with Mrs KS. We performed the surgery
using a high-end operating microscope and constant neuro monitoring, ensuring that the
critical nerves responsible for swallowing, speech and those associated with the face are not
affected when we remove the tumor.”
Following the successful surgery, she was able to walk in two days and got discharged on the
7 th day from the hospital. Mrs KS had continued her physiotherapy sessions as advised and
returned to the US, hale and fit.
“Many people are scared of surgery when they or their family member is above the age of 70.
However, with advancements in anaesthesia, superior operating room technology and
continuous monitoring, risks have remarkably reduced. Surgery – even for critical brain
tumours – can be successfully performed at any age, provided the patient is medically fit,”
says Dr Sridhar.
The team at Kauvery Institute of Brain and Spine is happy to have successfully removed the
brain tumour, allowing Mrs KS to get back to her previous level of health and wishes her good
health and an active life ahead.
Kauvery Hospital, Radial Road, is a leading healthcare institution offering advanced
treatments and surgical interventions in neurology, cardiology, gastroenterology, women and
child wellness, orthopaedics, joint reconstruction, urology, nephrology and other specialities.
With a dedicated team of experts and state-of-the-art medical facilities including 50+ critical
care beds, 20+ NICU beds, 7+ operation theatres, an advanced Cath lab, cutting-edge neuro
diagnostic equipment like 3T MRI and 4K + 3D neuro microscope, transplant facilities and 24/7
dialysis unit, it provides world-class medical care to patients from around the globe.