Tuberculum sellae meningioma. Woman going blind regains total vision 27-year-old had rare brain tumour that affected her eyesight; risky operation successful

Woman going blind regains total vision

27-year-old had rare brain tumour that affected her eyesight; risky operation successful

Mehnaz Khan (name changed), 27, was religiously reading verses from the Koran inside the ICU at Prince Aly Khan hospital, Mazgaon, on Tuesday night. Just a week ago, she had lost vision in her left eye. The vision in her right eye was rapidly deteriorating as well and doctors feared she would go blind if her rare tumour was not removed in time. A month after visiting numerous opthalmologists thinking she needed spectacles for better vision, Mehnaz, a resident of Kalyan, was diagnosed with a rare brain condition called tuberculum sellae meningioma. One in 1 lakh people is affected by the tumour. “The tumour is non-cancerous, but because it grows between the optic nerve, it affects vision in both eyes. One eye may deteriorate faster than the other and patients don’t realise it before they lose total vision in one eye,” said Dr Adil Chagla, neurosurgeon at the BMC-run KEM hospital and Prince Aly Khan hospital, who operated upon Mehnaz. “I could not do my daily chores. Cooking, cleaning and looking after my two-year-old son were arduous tasks. Everything around me was a faint blur. Problems in my left eye started in September,” Mehnaz told DNA. Doctors warned Mehnaz’s family before the surgery, saying that hitting one wrong nerve in the brain could lead to her death. Moreover, just two per cent of patients who are operated upon for the tumour regain their vision back. Mehnaz underwent surgery on October 18 where a flap of her skull was sawed open and surgeons made way through her brain lobes to crush the tumour into multiple fragments. After three days, the bandages wrapped around her eyes were removed. She saw the wall clock hung in the ICU and said: “It is 4pm!” Her harrowed mother Ismat heaved a sigh of relief. The day her daughter’s vision started blurring, Ismat taught Mehnaz an ayat (verse) from the Koran. “‘Fakashafna Anka Ghita’aka Fa basaroka Youma Hadeet’ which means an illusory curtain of darkness has descended upon our eyes, oh almighty remove it and guide us towards light,” Ismat joyously recited the ayat which she believes restored her daughter’s vision.