News and Events

Rambam Doctors Remove Brain Tumor that Caused Deafness vis Rare "Keyhole" Surgery

Publication Date: 3/18/2019

A woman underwent 12 hours of surgery to have a tumor removed from her brain. To successfully remove the tumor, which was near the woman’s auditory nerve, surgeons entered through the woman’s ear and drilled a canal to reach the tumor.

A multi-disciplinary team of neurosurgeons and otolaryngologists during the operation. Photography: Ofer GolanA multi-disciplinary team of neurosurgeons and otolaryngologists during the operation. Photography: Ofer Golan

A woman in her 60s from Northern Israel recently underwent a 12-hour-long surgery at Rambam Health Care Campus to remove a brain tumor. The tumor had grown deep inside her brain near the auditory nerve, causing her to become deaf. Rambam’s multidisciplinary surgical team removed the tumor in a relatively rare procedure—through her ear—known as a “keyhole surgery”. First, Dr. Maurizio Cohen, an otolaryngologist, drilled a 5-cm-long canal behind the patient’s ear to the inside of her skull. Once the canal was completed, Professor Gil Swiri, director of the Department of Neurosurgery, gently separated the auditory nerves from the tumor and removed the tumor.

The woman is now recovering and in good condition. Doctors at Rambam say that complex surgeries of this type are made possible only through multidisciplinary cooperation between physicians with broad experience in providing solutions for complex brain tumors. This is the first time the surgery was performed in Northern Israel.