Abu Dhabi: Surgeons remove tumour from skull, save woman's eyes

Surgeons at a private hospital in Abu Dhabi have successfully removed a benign meningioma tumour from the skull base of an Egyptian expat woman to save her eyesight.

Husna Ahmed Mohamed, a mother of four children, had severe vision loss because of a tumour on the optic nerve, at the base of her skull. The Ras Al Khaimah resident endured persistent nausea and headaches following an acute bleed from her tumour.

“In the beginning, I only felt slightly ill from time to time. I noticed it more in December 2021, when I started to really feel consistent heavy dizziness. So, I went to a hospital in Ras Al Khaimah on a day when it was particularly bad, and towards that evening I couldn’t even see properly. I went for a second diagnosis afterwards, and that’s when I was told I had a tumour,” recollected Husna, who has been living in the UAE for the past 10 years.

From Ras Al Khaimah, she was referred to hospitals in Sharjah and Dubai, before taking a family friend’s advice to try Burjeel Medical City (BMC) under VPS Healthcare, in Abu Dhabi.

The surgical team led by neurosurgery consultant Dr Mohamed Elzoghby along with the assistance of Dr Salim Kanaan, consultant, neurosurgeon, performed a four-hour-long minimally invasive surgery to remove the tumour completely.

Dr Elzoghby said that a 3cm tumour was in the suprasellar area at the base of the skull, which necessitated a minimal invasive surgery to minimise the risk of complications or side effects.

“The tumour was pressing on the optic nerve. Any additional pressure may have caused vision loss, bleeding, or an imbalance in the pituitary gland hormones.”

The surgery was performed without any complications and scans revealed total removal of the tumour.

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