U.S. surgeons are to perform a new type of procedure next week to reverse symptoms of a rare form of gigantism that is enlarging a man's features.
Alexander Liss, 27, of Indianapolis suffers from acromegaly, an unusual condition caused by a brain tumor deep in his pituitary gland. As a result, an overproduction of growth hormones has made his hands, feet and facial features grow beyond normal, producing tremendous joint pain.
What's described as a revolutionary new, minimally invasive form of brain surgery will be performed Monday by Dr. Hrayr Shahinian, founder of the Skull Base Institute in Los Angeles. During the two-hour surgical procedure Shahinian will remove the tumor using a specially designed endoscope inserted via one of Liss' nostrils.
Following the procedure, Shahinian expects Liss to be discharged from the hospital within 48 hours.
The procedure is an alternative to a traditional 12-hour craniotomy that involves sawing off the top portion of the patient's skull to reach the brain and then correcting the abnormality.
The new procedure has been detailed in the Journal of Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International
Related stories:
Psychologists show experience may be the best teacher for infants
(PhysOrg.com) -- There's a lot of truth in the old proverb "experience is the best teacher," and apparently it even applies to 10-month-old infants.
Surgery unnecessary for 95 percent of those with asymptomatic carotid stenosis
Research led by Dr. David Spence of Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario shows that with more intensive medical therapy, the risk of stroke has become so low that at least 95 per cent of patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis (ACS) would be better off with medical therapy than with surgery or stenting. ACS is a narrowing in the carotid artery, which supplies blood to the brain, which has not yet resulted in a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA). In the United States, one-half to two-thirds of the patients being subjected to surgery for revascularization are asymptomatic.
Out of Iraq emerges hope for those with the severest of head injuries
There may be more hope than has been recognized for some people with severe brain injuries, according to a U.S. neurosurgeon who earlier this year spent four months in Iraq treating soldiers and civilians. Jason Huang, M.D., this week presented his results from his experience in Iraq at the annual meeting of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons in Orlando, Fla.
Study suggests why heart attack victims do better with social support
Researchers have identified specific damages to the brain that may occur when heart attack victims are socially isolated from others. The study in mice found that those animals that lived alone before undergoing a heart attack showed five to eight times more damage to neurons in one part of the brain than did similar animals that lived with others.
Researchers suppress 'hunger hormone'
Johns Hopkins scientists report success in significantly suppressing levels of the "hunger hormone" ghrelin in pigs using a minimally invasive means of chemically vaporizing the main vessel carrying blood to the top section, or fundus, of the stomach. An estimated 90 percent of the body's ghrelin originates in the fundus, which can't make the hormone without a good blood supply.
Unusual case of a woman who suffered stroke during sex
Minutes after having sexual intercourse with her boyfriend, a 35-year-old woman suddenly felt her left arm go weak. Her speech became slurred and she lost feeling on the left side of her face.
Deep brain stimulation offers hope to people with treatment-resistant illnesses
Every day during a four-year deep depression, Sean Miller thought of ending his life. Nothing relieved the emotional darkness - not therapy, not medication, not loving attention from family and friends.
How memories are made, and recalled
What makes a memory? Single cells in the brain, for one thing. For the first time, scientists at UCLA and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel have recorded individual brain cells in the act of calling up a memory, thus revealing where in the brain a specific memory is stored, and how it is able to recreate it.