A NEW MICROSCOPE HAS APPEARED AT THE NATIONAL MEDICAL RESEARCH RADIOLOGICAL CENTRE, WHICH WILL BRING NEUROSURGICAL INTERVENTIONS TO A NEW LEVEL️

A new surgical microscope equipped with state-of-the-art optics and three fluorescence modules has appeared at the A. Tsyb Medical Radiological Research Centre (MRRC) – the branch of the FSBI “National Medical Research Radiological Centre” (NMRRC) of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. It allows to obtain clear intraoperative pictures and will be actively used for complex neurosurgical interventions, where every millimeter is of great importance.

The first patient operated on with the new microscope was 53-year-old Nikita, who began to notice his own forgetfulness and absent-mindedness a month ago. His once fluent and clear speech was becoming “confused”, and weakness in his right arm and leg was causing a lot of inconvenience in his daily life.

The man underwent an MRI scan, which showed a volumetric neoplasm in the left hemisphere, dominant for speech.

“Glioblastoma is a malignant tumor that is characterized by an extremely aggressive course of the disease,” says Sergey Goryainov, MD, neurosurgeon at the A.Tsyb MRRC. – It develops in the brain and destroys the surrounding healthy tissue. Patients may suffer from constant headaches, dizziness, nausea and vomiting. As the neoplasm grows, it begins to exert pressure on important parts of the brain, resulting in speech and coordination disorders, deterioration of visual and hearing acuity. Patients need to start treatment immediately.”

Nikita had a complex tumor location. On the front, it bordered the motor areas of the tongue and face – if they were damaged, one could lose speech function and experience facial paresis. On the top and back, the tumor was close to the arcuate tract, an important bundle that replaces the speech areas in the brain. If it is damaged, the patient can suffer disabling speech, writing and reading disorders. From below, the tumor was growing into the vessels of the spinal artery – the risks of bleeding were extremely high.

“We were working with a very complex localization of glioblastoma that bordered and intersected with four critical areas of the brain at once. Our movements were clearly calibrated and the microscope allowed us to see the affected tissue with great precision. In order not to impair speech and motor functions, we used neurophysiologic monitoring. Using a special electrical stimulator, the motor cortex and motor pathways of the brain were “pulsed”. This allowed us to avoid traumatization of critical structures and disability of the patient”, – emphasizes Sergey Alekseevich.

Now Nikita is on the mend. He clearly expresses his thoughts, reads and writes, walks and does not limit his movements. After recovery, he will undergo chemoradiation therapy in order to achieve better results in treating such an aggressive tumor.