5-year-old becomes youngest patient to undergo 'awake craniotomy' at AIIMS Delhi
New Delhi, Jan 6: Doctors at AIIMS, Delhi successfully performed a brain tumour surgery on a five-year-old girl while keeping her in a conscious state during the operation with the hospital claiming that she was the youngest patient in the world to undergo such a procedure.
The procedure termed as 'awake craniotomy' (conscious sedation technique) surgery for left perisylvian intraaxial brain tumour was performed on January 4, AIIMS said in a statement.
The child presented with a history of seizures and her brain MRI was done which showed a tumour in the left side of her brain adjacent to speech/language area, it said.
The surgery lasted three hours, including time taken for giving local anaesthesia to the child by neuroanaesthetists.
The tumour was removed successfully by a team of neurosurgeons as she remained conscious throughout the procedure.
"Technological adjuncts viz preoperative functional MRI brain, intraoperative ultrasonography, neuronavigation were used to localise tumour precisely during resection while mapping of functional areas was being carried out under awake conditions. Ice cold saline was used for the brain surface to prevent any seizures during the procedure," the statement said.
"The child is doing well and will be sent home on Monday," it said.
A long discussion was held between team members, patient's family and the child before taking a decision to go ahead with the surgery. They were counselled at length on steps of procedure, it stated.
She was shown common objects, common animals and given some tasks for language and sensorimotor assessments before surgery, which were repeated during the surgical procedure also.
She is a first standard student and was quick in identifying the picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the surgery, the statement said.
"Awake surgeries for brain tumours are done for maximising tumour removals and minimising neurological deficits usually. During awake craniotomy, patients should feel a minimum level of pain while being completely able to cooperate in neurological tests," it said.
"Although this method is called awake craniotomy, this method requires even more collaboration in perfect harmony of the surgical and anaesthesia teams than other operations under general anaesthesia said,' Dr Deepak Gupta, Professor of Neurosurgery who performed this operation with his team with neuroanesthesia team led by Dr Mihir Pandia and Dr Gyanendra Pal Singh.
"Akshita happens to be the youngest child in the world to undergo successful brain tumour surgery under awake conditions at this age at AIIMS, Delhi," Dr Gupta said.
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
