Tumour removed from newborn’s eye

Despite the location of the tumour behind the eyeball making the procedure highly risky, a team of doctors in a Chennai hospital successfully removed it and the girl is now on the road to recovery. 

Through an ultrasound, the parents had found out the condition when the mother was in her eighth month of pregnancy. They visited several ophthalmologists across Bengaluru, but failed to find a solution.They finally arrived at Gleneagles Global Health City in the city when the baby was 28-day-old. 

“We conducted tests and found that she had a large orbital tumour behind her left eye. Given the severity of the situation, we decided to go for an emergency surgery, keeping in view the tense swelling of the tissues around the eye which could soon press against the optic nerve and cause irreparable loss in vision,” said Dr Ravindra Mohan, Senior Consultant, Department of Ophthalmology at the hospital. The surgery was performed on July 6 which lasted for over two hours.

“The surgical operation was a difficult one with the risk having been higher because the case was a neonate,” he added. The surgery was a success with the girl recovering at a steady pace.