Meet the first UK patient to have a tumour removed through the eye socket: Video
Almost a year ago, Ruvimbo Kaviya, a 40-year-old nurse in Leeds, became the first person in the UK to have a tumour removed using a flexible tube and camera called an endoscope through a patient’s eye socket.
Kaviya had a meningioma removed from the space located beneath the brain and behind the eyes.
The mother of three, whose tumour would have previously been considered inoperable, says she had to be strong for her kids despite being in “a lot of pain.”
“I was really very scared at first... I had less chances to decide; I don't want or I would keep it because it was growing and at the end of the day it needs to be removed. So I just opted in and say, well, whatever comes up, I'm ready,” she told PA News Agency.
She was diagnosed with a meningioma in early 2023. While doctors planned to monitor the growth, a second meningioma was discovered in October of the same year, and the operation was performed in February 2024.
The complex procedure was performed by a team at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. To prepare, the surgeons practised using 3D models of Kaviya’s head and conducted trials in a cadaver lab. The surgery lasted just three hours, and Kaviya was able to walk the same day.
Since then, surgeons have performed similar procedures, offering new hope to patients with tumours previously deemed inoperable.
Traditionally, accessing tumours in such locations required removing a large portion of the skull and manipulating the brain, increasing the risk of complications like seizures.
However, advancements in minimally invasive techniques and technology have reduced these risks significantly.
“There’s been a move towards minimally invasive techniques over the last few years or so, with the advancement of technology, tools, 3D innovation, it is now possible to do the procedures with less morbidity, and that means the patients recover quicker and better,” neurosurgeon Asim Sheikh told the PA news agency.
Sheikh added that traditional methods involve “pressing on quite a lot of brain” to reach the tumour, which can lead to significant postoperative risks. “If you press on it too much, or retract it, or try and move it apart, then it can lead to patients having seizures afterwards,” he noted.
