From correspondents in Delhi, India, 08:02 PM IST

A tumour of the size of a large ball was removed from the brain cavity of a woman at a city hospital here, doctors claimed Thursday adding that it was the 'largest brain tumour removal surgery performed anywhere in the world'.

Doctors at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said Sugra Bibi, 50, wife of Ali Ahemad from Jammu, was operated upon on Sep 7 last year by a team of neurosurgeons.

'The size of the tumour was 16cm x 10cm x 8cm. It was the largest brain tumour removal operation conducted anywhere in the world,' Rana Patir, head of the department of neurosurgery at the hospital, told IANS.

A team of doctors led by Patir took over six hours to remove the tumour. Now the patient has started living a normal life.

Patir said: 'Her scans revealed a very large tumour totally within the skull. The tumour was extending onto both sides of the brain and infiltrating and totally obstructing the main drainage channel of the blood from the brain.'

He said the tumour's size, the location next to the part of the brain involved with limb movement as well as the involvement of the main drainage channel of the brain, had posed major challenges for his team to successfully operate upon her.

Sugra Bibi said that she faced a major problem with her legs before coming to the hospital.

'I was not able to walk at all. My right hand too was not working well and it was becoming difficult for me to see things clearly. But after operation I have started living a normal life,' she told IANS sitting on her hospital bed.

B.K. Rao, chairman (board of management) of the hospital said: 'These tumours are frequently treated with partial removal followed by radiation therapy.'

'Achieving a complete, or a near complete removal can exercise the extreme limits of a neurosurgeons' skill. It's an achievement for our hospital,' Rao told reporters.

He said the draining vein of the brain, which was hindered by the growth, was also removed.

'The patient received gamma radiation at the end of the draining vein to be sure of complete sterilisation of the growth margins. There are no complications now and the lady made an uneventful recovery,' Rao added.

Doctors said due to the tumour and subsequent operation, the patient had faced some vision and movement problem but she has recovered completely.

'There is no problem with any part of her body,' said Patir.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)