A 10-year-old boy’s vision plummeted to blindness…not ordinary myopia! Beware of Craniopharyngioma

Text/Yangcheng Evening News All-Media Reporter Lin Qingqing Correspondent Zhang Xiaomei

Picture/provided by the hospital

Electronic products are becoming a daily routine, and online classes have become the new normal… When a child’s eyesight declines, the first reaction of many parents is myopia. Chen Fang (pseudonym), who lives in Shunde, always thought that her 10-year-old son Xiaosheng (pseudonym) was also a member of the “myopia army”. It was only discovered some time ago that the culprit of her child’s “myopia” was actually a brain tumor.

Recently, Professor Ouyang Hui of Guangdong Sanjiu Brain Hospital received a special thank you card. Although it is a few simple words, it was written by Xiao Sheng after surgery, and the handwriting is neat, which makes parents and doctors very happy.

Xiao Sheng has neat handwriting and thank you after the surgery

A sharp drop in vision! Blindness in the left eye and writing crooked

During the summer vacation, Chen Fang found that Xiaosheng had signs of “myopia”. “Keep your phone very close when playing games.” Considering Xiaosheng’s young age, Chen Fang didn’t want him to wear myopia glasses too early, so he bought a special medicine for myopia to relieve visual fatigue. After using the eye drops, Xiaosheng also said that he could see things “clearly”.

A few days after school started, the teacher reported to Chen Fang that Xiaosheng was sloppy in his homework and his writing was crooked. “He has always been serious in his studies, and his words are neat, and he has never been criticized for it before.” Chen Fang felt that Xiaosheng’s “myopia” deepened, because even if he sat in the first row, he could not see the words on the blackboard, and the eye drops did not work. no longer works. “I couldn’t see clearly a day or two before the start of school.” The sensible Xiaosheng didn’t want his parents to worry, so he didn’t say anything.

After realizing the seriousness of the problem, Chen Fang took Xiaosheng to the ophthalmology department of the hospital. The results of the ophthalmological examination were normal, but the doctor found that Xiaosheng’s left eye was blind, and the right eye could only see objects within 2 meters. It wasn’t until a systematic examination was done that it was discovered that something was wrong with the brain. In order to seek further diagnosis and treatment, on September 11, Chen Fang accompanied her son to Guangdong Sanjiu Brain Hospital.

“Punches” from the nostrils! Postoperative writing is no longer skewed

During the consultation, Professor Ouyang Hui, the chief expert of major surgery and director of the Tenth Department of Neurosurgery, found that the patient was thin and small, and the space-occupying lesion was located in the intracranial sellar area. Combining the symptoms and imaging data, Ouyang Hui believes that it is more likely to be a craniopharyngioma.

Preoperative imaging

Completing the relevant examinations, the ten-department neurosurgery team of the hospital decided to perform neuroendoscopic transsphenoidal tumor resection for the child. To put it simply, it is a “hole” from the child’s nostril into the cranial sella region (supersellar), and a minimally invasive cystic and solid tumor of about 5cm × 4.8cm × 4cm is completely removed. Postoperative pathological diagnosis confirmed craniopharyngioma.

“Many students in the class are short-sighted, so I never thought it was a brain problem.” Chen Fang felt regretful.

“Larger craniopharyngiomas are prone to compress and damage the optic nerve, so most patients will have symptoms such as decreased vision and visual field defects.” Xiaosheng’s doctor in charge, director of the tenth department of neurosurgery Assistant Deng mood explained that children’s craniopharyngioma will also affect growth and development.

Source | Yangcheng Evening News·Yangcheng Pie

Editor | Wang Moyi