Nasal Brain Tumor Removal Surgery Saves Patient’s Vision

Lunthita Duthley woke up one day with an intense headache and vision loss that was getting worse by the hour.

When doctors discovered a benign but large, bleeding brain tumor behind her eyes, she feared she would live the rest of her life with severe visual impairment. But the neurosurgery team at the University of Miami Health System specializes in a unique, two-surgeon procedure that often gives patients blinded by pituitary tumors a whole new outlook.

“The fascinating thing about this surgery is that the moment patients wake up from anesthesia, they tell us they can see,” said Dr. Zoukaa Sargi, an otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon at UHealth. “You can see in their eyes how happy they are.”

According to Dr. Ricardo Jorge Komotar, a neurosurgeon, “When you have a brain tumor, you need to be in an academic medical center because the expertise and the technology are the best, and that’s where the outcomes are optimal.”

Tags: brain surgery, Dr. Ricardo Jorge Komotar, Dr. Zoukaa Sargi, migraines, minimally invasive, neurosurgery, Tumors