First time in Tamil Nadu, Neurosurgery team at Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre (MMHRC) performed a complex brain surgery called "Double-Barrel STA-MCA Bypass Surgery" to save a 50 years old woman with Complex Cerebral Aneurysm.
The patient was brought with history of headache, aphasia, loss of vision in the right eye and weakness in the left side limbs. She was apparently normal 1 month back and symptoms progressed rapidly. Initially she was treated in her native place, then referred here for further management. MRI brain and Digital Subtraction Angiography was done which showed right Giant thrombosed supraclinoid aneurysm with acute infarct seen in right basal ganglia.
Neurosurgical team and Neuroanesthetisa team had a complete discussion with family members regarding nature of the disease and line of management along with pros and cons of the surgical procedure. Patient underwent "Double-barrel Superficial Temporal Artery–Middle Cerebral Artery (STA–MCA) bypass surgery with parent vessel occlusion". This complex surgical procedure took around 10 hours to complete. Post operative period was uneventful, the patient was discharged on 10th POD. Patient recovered completely after the surgery and resumed all normal activities.
Commenting on the surgical procedure Dr.Venkatesan MS MCh, Consultant, Department of Neurosurgery who performed the surgery said, "Double-Barrel STA-MCA bypass surgery" is a challenging cerebral revascularization procedure and now considered as high flow bypass surgery. With the help of Microscope, intra op ICG and neuro monitoring we have successfully done the surgery and restored cerebral blood flow to the patient. It`s a proud moment for me started doing cerebral revascularization surgeries like Carotid endarterectomy and bypass surgery in MMHRC.
Dr. Selva Muthu Kumaran MCh, Consultant and HOD, Department of Neurosurgery said, an important tool for cerebral revascularization is extra cranial-intracranial (EC-IC) or STA-MCA bypass, which is a surgical procedure to increase cerebral blood flow. This procedure involves connecting a branch of the external carotid artery to a branch of the internal carotid artery directly. This procedure has been used in the treatment of various cerebrovascular ischemic diseases. It is similar to cardiac bypass surgery where blocked heart arteries are bypassed."