Successful removal of a cerebellar hemangioblastoma in a combat support hospital.
The case of a 24-year-old male U.S. Marine Corps sergeant who presented with headache and ataxia to a combat support hospital (CSH) in Kuwait, during Operation Iraqi Freedom, is described. Imaging studies revealed a cystic brain neoplasm causing hydrocephalus and increased intracranial pressure. Because of the patient's deteriorating clinical condition and the high risk of further brain injury during a prolonged air evacuation flight, immediate surgery at the CSH was deemed the safest treatment option. The tumor was completely removed and the patient's symptoms resolved, allowing safe evacuation. A CSH is not intended to provide comprehensive neurosurgical capabilities and some equipment usually considered necessary to perform this surgery was unavailable, but field-expedient methods were devised to overcome these deficiencies. This is the first reported case of a brain tumor successfully removed in a CSH.
Donovan
Daniel J
DJ
252nd Medical Detachment (Neurosurgery), Camp Wolf, Kuwait.
Iskandar
John I
JI
Citrone
Michael J
MJ
Royer
Michael C
MC
D000328:Adult; D002528:Cerebellar Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D018325:Hemangioblastoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006772:Hospitals, Military; D006775:Hospitals, Packaged; D006801:Humans; D007730:Kuwait; D008297:Male; D008887:Military Medicine; D008889:Military Personnel; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States; D014857:Warfare