Home Health Meet the mother whose brain tumor was removed through the eye socket for the first time in the UK

Meet the mother whose brain tumor was removed through the eye socket for the first time in the UK

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Ruvimbo Kaviya is the first person in the UK to receive ground-breaking surgery to remove a tumor through the eye socket at Leeds General Infirmary.

A mother-of-three has become the first person in the UK to have a brain tumor removed through a hole in her eye socket.

Ruvimbo Kaviya, a nurse from Leeds, had a tumor called meningioma removed from the space under her brain and behind her eyes.

Traditionally, this type of tumor would have been considered inoperable due to its location in an area called the cavernous sinus.

And those that have been removed required complex surgery that involves removing a large part of the skull and moving the brain to access the tumor, which in itself can lead to serious complications, including seizures.

Now surgeons at Leeds University Hospitals NHS Trust have managed to remove one of these tumors using eye surgery through Ms Kaviya’s eye socket, the first surgery of its kind in the UK.

Experts performed the surgery several times before the operation, first using 3D models of Kaviya’s head and then in a cadaver laboratory.

The surgery, known as an endoscopic transorbital approach, lasted just three hours and Ms Kaviya was up and walking around later that day.

Surgeons first made a small incision next to his eye and used a small camera called an endoscope to gently “shift” his eye to the side.

Ruvimbo Kaviya is the first person in the UK to receive ground-breaking surgery to remove a tumor through the eye socket at Leeds General Infirmary.

Ruvimbo's surgery came after he was diagnosed with meningiomas on the right side of the back of his brain and the left side of his eye.

Ruvimbo’s surgery came after he was diagnosed with meningiomas on the right side of the back of his brain and the left side of his eye.

Small scar on the corner of Ruvimbo Kaviya's eye after receiving groundbreaking surgery to remove a tumor in her eye socket.

Small scar on the corner of Ruvimbo Kaviya’s eye after receiving groundbreaking surgery to remove a tumor in her eye socket.

This meant they could reach the back of the eye socket, where a small amount of bone was cut away. The tumor was then removed and a flexible tube was used to carry it back through the small hole and incision.

The only evidence of the surgery is a small scar left near Kaviya’s left eye.

Surgeons have since performed similar operations, giving hope to UK patients whose cancers were previously considered inoperable.

Neurosurgeon Asim Sheikh said: “In recent years there has been a movement towards minimally invasive techniques; with the advancement of technology, tools and 3D innovation, it is now possible to perform the procedures with less morbidity, and that means that Patients recover faster and better.’

He said traditional methods of getting to where the tumor was located require “quite a lot of pressure on the brain.”

“So if you push it too hard, retract it or try to separate it, patients can have seizures afterwards,” Mr Sheikh said.

‘Whereas this way, we don’t even touch the brain. It is a difficult area to access and this allows direct access without compromising pressure on the brain.’

Dated handout image issued by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust of an MRI scan used by surgeons to visualize Ruvimbo Kaviya's tumour.

Dated handout image issued by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust of an MRI scan used by surgeons to visualize Ruvimbo Kaviya’s tumour.

The surgery marks a significant advance in the treatment of skull base tumor.

The surgery marks a significant advance in the treatment of skull base tumor.

The 40-year-old man needed three months off work to recover

The 40-year-old man needed three months off work to recover

Kaviya said she didn’t even think about being the first patient in the UK to undergo such a procedure because the tumor gave her very severe headaches.

WHAT IS A MENINGIOMA?

A meningioma is a tumor of the meninges, which is the tissue that surrounds the brain and spinal cord.

About 32,000 people are diagnosed each year.

These tumors do not spread and are benign in 90 percent of cases.

However, they can cause disability, be life-threatening, and regrow.

Symptoms usually include:

The patient’s senses, movement, and ability to swallow may be affected.

The cause of meningiomas is unknown, but it has been linked to genetics and breast cancer.

Treatment options include surgery and radiation therapy or chemotherapy.

Source: Mayo Clinic

He was finally diagnosed with a meningioma in 2023 and the operation was performed in February last year.

The 40-year-old needed three months off work to recover but is now back at work providing stroke rehabilitation to patients in Leeds.

“It was the first time they did the procedure,” he said.

“I didn’t have the option to accept because the pain was too much; I didn’t even think it was the first time, all I needed was for it to be taken away.”

Kaviya, whose three children are aged eight, 12 and 13, said her family was “sceptical” about the procedure.

“But I just told them, ‘I just have to do this, either I do this or I do that, keep growing and maybe I’ll die,'” he said.

‘There is a first time for everything. So you never know, this could be the best opportunity for me to have it.” And it was.

Meningiomas are tumors that start in the layers of tissue covering the brain and spinal cord, and account for around 27 per cent of all brain tumors diagnosed in England.

It is the most common type of benign brain tumor diagnosed in the UK and is more common in women than men.

Most meningiomas are not cancerous, but they can trigger symptoms such as seizures, weakness in the arms or legs, vision or hearing loss.

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