Due to the numbness of her feet for nearly two months, 48-year-old Aunt Liang (pseudonym) came to Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital (hereinafter referred to as "Provincial Medicine") for medical examination. Unexpectedly, it was caused by a huge tumor in the medulla oblongata of the center of life. And this kind of tumor that grows in the center of life is extremely difficult and risky to operate. A few days ago, the team of Zhou Dexiang of the Provincial Medical Neurosurgery Department successfully performed a huge bulbar tumor resection for her, and the tumor was accurately and completely removed, and Aunt Liang's original compressed nerve tissue has also been significantly restored.
Experts remind that the elderly sometimes feel that leg numbness is a minor problem, but when the foot numbness persists for no reason, even if it is mild, they should go to the hospital in time for identification.
Rare! The center of life is a giant tumor.
The medulla oblongata is the center of respiration and circulation, and is an important part of life activities, often referred to as the center of life. Once the medulla oblongata is damaged, the consequences are unimaginable. 48-year-old Aunt Liang came to the doctor because of numbness in her feet, but the results of the examination surprised everyone: in Aunt Liang's medulla oblongata to the neck 3 medulla, there was a size of about 72cm×1.8cm×1.Huge tumor of 8cm!
Zhou Dexiang, the chief physician of neurosurgery, told reporters that it is very rare to have a huge tumor in the medulla oblongata-upper cervical medulla like this, and the tumor involves the full length of the medulla oblongata and the cervical 1-3 high cervical cervical spinal cord, which may affect important functions such as the life center, vascular center, awakening function, posterior cranial nerve function, and limb motor sensation.
The difficulty and risk of surgery in the medulla oblongata are extremely high, and serious complications such as central cardiac arrest, postoperative respiratory and cardiac arrest, coma, bulbar palsy, and high paraplegia may occur. However, if the tumor is allowed to grow without surgery, it may be life-threatening if respiratory and heartbeat symptoms appear. At that time, the operation will be more difficult and the risk of complications will be greater.
Do I need surgery? Both the medical team and Auntie Liang were faced with a dilemma. After much research, Aunt Liang finally decided to undergo surgery**. The neurosurgery team of Zhou Dexiang also formulated an individualized surgical plan for him.
Detective! A 6 cm incision removes 7 cm of tumor.
The medulla oblongata and cervical spinal cord, as the main channels connecting the brain and the limbs of the body, have ascending and descending nerve fiber bundles, and once the fiber bundles are transcribed, it will cause neurological damage that is difficult to recover. In order to minimize the damage to the fiber bundle and ensure that Aunt Liang's postoperative nerve function is intact, Zhou Dexiang decided to adopt the method of posterior median incision of the medulla oblongata and cervical spinal cord.
Tumors have 72 cm, the surgical incision is generally larger than the tumor, but now only 6 cm has been cut, minimizing the incision of the brainstem. Zhou Dexiang chose the bottom-up perspective as a breakthrough to reduce the length of the medullary incision, and through the angle of microscope inclination, the effect of exposing the upper pole of the tumor was achieved, and the function of the medulla oblongata was better protected.
The operation was performed by Director Zhou Dexiang's team. After 6 hours of hard work, the tumor was successfully completely removed and the important peritumoral structures were protected, and the operation was successfully completed. The enhanced MR comparison of the patients before and after surgery showed that the tumor was completely resected and the original compressed nerve tissue had been significantly restored to its position.
After the operation, Aunt Liang was transferred to the ICU to closely monitor vital signs, blood oxygen and bulbar function. On the third day after the operation, Aunt Liang was successfully weaned, able to breathe and eat on her own, had no difficulty swallowing, choking on water, and moved her limbs freely, and gradually walked on the ground.
After 25 days of hospitalization, Aunt Liang was successfully discharged from the hospital, and the postoperative pathology confirmed that she was a WHO grade ependymoma. Since the tumor is completely resected, regular follow-up and re-examination are only required after surgery.
Doctor's reminder: Be careful if these symptoms come on suddenly or slowly.
According to reports, intracranial tumor lesions are generally relatively insidious and will not appear critical symptoms immediately. Like Aunt Liang, it's like a "boiled frog in warm water", so the symptoms are not obvious. The first symptoms of intracranial tumors are generally dizziness, headache, numbness in the limbs, decreased vision, choking on water, etc., but many people think it is a minor problem and do not take it seriously.
How to see a doctor in time and detect it early? Zheng Jiantao, Department of Neurosurgery of Provincial Medical College, reminded that in daily life, if abnormal symptoms such as dizziness and headache, unclear speech, choking on drinking water, and numbness of limbs suddenly appear, there may be a risk of cerebrovascular disease, and it is necessary to go to the hospital for emergency treatment in time; If the abnormal symptoms appear slowly and do not improve, you should go to the neurology department of a regular hospital as soon as possible, and once the space-occupying lesion is found, you should go to the neurosurgery department for intervention and treatment in time.
Text|Reporter Lin Qingqing Correspondent Zhang Chengbin |The hospital provides.