In a rare surgery, the AIIMS operated the world’s tallest woman with a height of 7 feet 8 inches who had a tumour in the brain, which doctors claimed, was responsible for her excessive body growth.
Doctors said the surgery should have been performed at least 10 years ago. She is recovering well and might be discharged in a day’s time.
The 26-year-old patient from West Bengal, who is a Guinness Book of World Records holder, was suffering from brain tumour. This tumour, doctors say, led to the uncontrolled growth in her height as it remained untreated for over 10 years. “It was a challenge for us to treat the patient as she was two-three times the normal size of a human being,” said Dr Ashish Suri, neurosurgeon at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
The biggest challenge, according to Suri, was arranging for the surgical instruments for a patient as big in size as her. “The surgical instruments are normally of a standard size but in this abnormal case, we went through the Extended Endoscopic Endonasal approach using endoscope through the nose. Extra reinforcement was used for handling her and we used long surgical instruments,” he said.
The patient, who weights 130 kilos, was bedridden and suffered vertebrae fractures. She came to the Capital for the first time after suffering from the problem since birth and was already an overgrown child by the time she turned 15 years. Blaming the lack of knowledge and delay in the treatment, Suri said, “She did not go out of her house and remained isolated most of her life. Had it been treated earlier, the situation would have been better,” adding that the patient hailed from a small village and belonged to an illiterate and poor family.
According to the doctors, the tumour secreted growth hormones which led to the increase in her height and weight in an abnormal way.