R. Vetrivel and his wife Killiammal first noticed there was something wrong with their eight-year-old son when he felt dizzy at school.

The couple, from Tiruppattur in Vellore district, took him to several government hospitals, before being referred to the neurosurgery department at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.

There, doctors found the young boy had a rare condition — a paediatric brain aneurysm — a condition in which a portion of the artery which supplies blood to the brain bulges and becomes weak. If the aneurysm ruptures, it releases blood into the skull, causing a stroke.

“We performed a microsurgery on the child, delved deep into the brain, found the artery and clipped the protuberant portion, so that it does not pose a risk. This was only possible as we have recently bought two state-of-the-art microscopes costing Rs. 1 crore each. We also bought three aneurysm clips, each costing Rs. 20,000. The surgery was performed free, and it was only possible as we had funds from the Chief Minister’s comprehensive health insurance scheme,” said Ranganathan Jothi, head of the neurosurgery department.

This is just one of the many complex procedures the department can now perform thanks to high-tech equipment, Dr. Jothi said, speaking at a press meet recently. “Now we perform three of four such surgeries every month,” he said.

For 72-year-old Michael Raj, a surgery has changed his life. The retired driver suffered from uncontrolled twitching in the face accompanied by shooting pain. He had tried all kinds of medication but nothing had relieved him. “It was so bad that I couldn’t even brush my teeth,” he said. After a private hospital told him the surgery would cost Rs. 2 lakh, Mr. Raj came to GH.

“An MRI scan revealed that a blood vessel was compressing a nerve. We performed a surgery to separate the nerve and the blood vessel, and now, even six months later, he is fine,” Dr. Jothi said.

Two other complex surgeries were also performed recently on patients with problems in their vertebrae. “Since the screws, plates and rods required are patented products, they are all very expensive. But we were able to acquire them,” he said.

All the patients are reportedly doing well.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – December 19th, 2014