BENGALURU: Jagadeesh Ratha (36), who was suffering from Paraganglioma — a rare tumour of nerve cells, got a new lease of life thanks to quick medical intervention. Ratha, who was on medication for hypertension from a long time, began having recurrent lower backaches from the past one year and lower limb pain since eight months. He had also started losing a lot of weight, when he decided to visit a doctor. He was diagnosed with spinal paraganglioma, with excess secretion of catecholamine hormone, leading to hypertension.
The doctors revealed that though the tumour was benign, excess release of catecholamine from it in uncontrolled bursts would cause serious health problems like stroke, heart attacks and even lead to death. “According to a recent study, these kinds of tumours are found in two out of a million people each year, and are the cause for high blood pressure in less than 0.2% of people,” said Dr Karthik Prabhakar, Consultant, Diabetes & Endocrinology, Manipal Hospitals Bangalore.
A ten-hour surgery was conducted via a multidisciplinary approach. “The surgery was conducted in two steps, one from the front and another one from the back of the spine,” said Dr Praveen M Ganigi, Consultant, Neurosurgery, Manipal Hospitals Bangalore.