(Image source from: ‘Teratoma’ found in brain instead of tumor)
Yamini Karanam, an Indian woman's surgery left the surgeon in Los Angeles in shock when they discovered an embryonic twin in her brain instead of tumor.
Karanam who is pursuing Ph.D at Indiana University was experiencing trouble since last September. She realized she was unable to understand the things she read.
"Problems with reading comprehension, listening comprehension. If a couple people were talking in a room, I wouldn't understand what was happening," Karanam said.
After waking up from the surgery, Karanam was shocked to learn of the “teratoma”-a rarity in modern medicine, an embryonic twin complete with bone, hair and teeth.
Karanam, 26 said she was frustrated when the doctors would contradict with each other regarding the source of the problem.
"The neurologist would say the neurosurgeon is not being practical in your case," Karanam said. "And the neurosurgeon would say the neurologist is not being optimistic in your case. And I'm like, could someone be educated about this?"
The contradictions led her to do some research where she finally met with Dr Hrayr Shahinian at the Skullbase Institute in Los Angeles. Shahinian developed a minimally invasive way of reaching into the brain to extract tumors.
"Unlike traditional brain surgery where you open the skull and use metal retractors and you bring a microscope to see in the depths of the brain, what we're doing is keyhole surgery," he said.
Karanam is expected to recover in three weeks.
- Smrutirekha
