Indian Express
08 June 2010

IN a first for Sassoon General hospital, urologists successfully performed a highly challenging and technically difficult surgery on nine–year–old Arun (name changed) to remove a tumour of the nervous system.

Known as pheochromocytoma, this is a condition where the tumour is formed within the sympathetic ner vous system.

The secretions from this tumour are harmful as they shoot up the blood pressure to such an extent that regular medicines to control BP become ineffective, says Dr S B Patankar,head of the department of Urology, Sassoon General Hospital.

There are just 100 odd cases in the world, says Patankar, as this is a rare disease.

The nine–year–old boy from Barshi was operated upon in January and he had been diagnosed with severe headache and giddiness. Initially he was diagnosed with meningitis and was under observation at a local hospital. Later he was shifted to Sassoon hospital, says Dean Dr Arun Jamkar as the situation was extremely problematic and delicate in the paediatric age group. Operations in such cases are very difficult to perform and key hole surgery or laparoscopy is rarely attempted in children.

However, Patankar took the crucial decision to perfom laparoscopic surgery and along with a team of experts including Jamkar and others operated upon the large tumour found near the left kidney of the patient.

“It took three–and–a–half hours to remove the tumour and we continuously monitored his condition. A week ago Arun was discharged and has returned home,”says Patankar.