CHENNAI : For 54-year-old Loganathan from Namakkal in Erode district, it felt as if he was living with two hearts, as he heard two palpitations. But, when he visited Apollo Hospitals, the doctors told him that one of the palpitations was from his brain that reverberated from his right ear.
An auditor at a private company in Erode district, Loganthan came to Apollo Hospitals with complaints of fluid discharge from his right ear, periodical headaches, pain and block in the ear for the last one year.
On examination, doctors found a pink, soft, pulsatile, incentive mass. On taking a CT scan and brain MRI, they found a hole in the upper wall of the inner right side ear. Through the hole, a small portion of the brain’s temporal lobe, a part of the brain that processes vision, was protruding out.
“The patient used to have puss discharge from the age of 15 years. In 2010, he met with a road accident and suffered a head injury and underwent surgery.
After two years of the surgery, he again started getting water discharge from his ear. He went to the doctor whenever this happened and got medicines. That gave him temporary relief, and he continued for years like that,” said Dr Krishnakumar, head, ENT, Apollo Speciality Hospitals in OMR.
“His condition worsened recently. He was referred to us by a doctor,” he said.
“The discharge he had from ears was cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), a clear, colourless fluid found in the brain. The fluid helps maintain a low pressure in the skull. It could have been catastrophic if it had gotten severe. Luckily, neither any doctor nor the patient himself attempted to cut the mass mistaking it for some growth in the ear, as that would have led to a loss of vision. That saved his life,” said Dr Joy Varghese, senior con sultant, neurosurgeon and interventionalist, Apollo Speciality Hospitals in OMR.
The doctors closed the hole using a piece of the skull bone, a flab and fat in the thigh.
“We used three layers of protection to make sure the brain was intact and it was protected well. We also fused these three layers using bio glue. He will not have this problem again. We don’t know how this hole was created and this is the first case I have come across,” said Dr Varghese.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Loganathan said, “I could hear palpitation of my brain through the hole. It was so disturbing and I couldn’t even sleep. The discharge from the ear used to wet my shirt. Now, I am relieved of that headache and also palpitation from the brain,” he said.
The surgery was performed in last week of November and the patient was discharged, the doctors said.