Three transactions on the brain

Photo Pierre-Paul Poulin
Danielle Hoppenheim, aged 16 years, had to undergo three operations to the brain in a year and a half because of a tumour.

Hugo Duchaine

Wednesday, 3 January 2018 01:00

UPDATE
Wednesday, 3 January 2018 01:00

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Never Danielle Hoppenheim would have doubted that its rules late and his vision problems were caused by a tumor the size of a ping-pong ball in her head, which was nearly the kill.

“On October 17, [last], I thought we were going to lose,” said trembling, the mother of the girl, Allison Rosenthal. It was just before her third brain surgery in a year and a half.

That evening, her daughter Danielle, aged 16 years, was in convulsions while the liquid contents in his brain flowed out through the nose. “It was the worst time of my life, I was shaking in the ambulance with her, who was completely catatonic,” recalls Ms. Rosenthal, while his daughter retains no memory.

Yet, when Danielle first visited doctors in February 2016, nothing foreshadowed such an outcome.

She was first went to see an endocrinologist, a specialist in hormones, because she had not had her period for many months. At the same time, she consulted an optometrist, because she could no longer see each side of his head.

“I never would have thought that the rules and the vision could be a link and that this link would be a tumor “, is surprised even his mother.

An MRI scan detected a tumour the size of a ping-pong ball, attached to his pituitary gland, also called the pituitary gland, which acts as the headquarters to distribute the hormones in the human body.

The tumor was enormous since this gland measures just 10 millimeters in diameter. So big, that it crushed a portion of the optic nerve of the girl, blocking her vision.

Operated quickly

Without delay, she was getting an operation to make it removed by the neurosurgeons of the Hospital for children of Montreal. The doctors opened the skull from one ear to the other to attempt to remove the tumor that was fortunately benign.

Unfortunately, they were not able to remove all of it and, a year later, she was starting to grow. It has therefore been re-operated by the nose this fall.

This time, the whole tumor has been removed. But without the knowledge of the physicians, the wound in his nose is badly closed. Danielle has suffered from migraine headaches for several days, then caught pneumonia and meningitis, until the evening of the priming where the seizures are occurring.

Danielle remained five days in an induced coma after his third operation to seal the wound in her nose, because the doctors wanted to avoid any movement so that it closes well.

“I had to have 600 text messages when I reopened my phone, my friends became concerned and wondered where I had gone,” laughed the teenager.

Danielle Hoppenheim, 16 years (Montreal)

Photo courtesy

• Tumour of the pituitary gland
• Montreal children’s hospital (MUHC)

“It was the worst time of my life, I was shaking in the ambulance with her” – His mother, Allison Rosenthal

The teenager has gone through a “hell”

Physicians Danielle Hoppenheim praise the courage of the teenage girl, who has gone through “hell” while keeping his good mood and not taking to school late.

“Everything happened so quickly, it has been difficult, not to mention that being a teen is already complicated enough,” says the endocrinologist Preetha Krishnamoorthy of the Montreal children’s Hospital.

Despite a first surgery in march 2016, at least a week’s notice, Danielle has completed his 4th secondary school and passed his exams. Then, after more than a week of hospitalization in a coma, the teenager intends to catch up and graduate with her friends next spring.

Followed closely

It is, however, closely followed by Dr. Krishnamoorthy, who continues to ensure that his pituitary gland is still functioning well, after when the same three operations.

For the moment, the levels of estrogen in the blood, the hormone that causes the rules, are restored to normal. However, it does not produce growth hormone at this time, according to his doctor. She reminds us that fortunately, the medications can possibly make up for the deficiencies of the teenager.

For its part, the neurosurgeon who operated on Danielle, Jean-Pierre Farmer, is happy that after very delicate in the brain, the pituitary gland and the optic nerve of the teen to remain intact.

During the first operation, by the skull, the doctors had to show great dexterity to reach the gland in the brain.

As much agility was needed for this through the nose, while the tools went through a nostril and a camera to guide their movements by the second.