The boy suddenly went blind in a few days, it was actually an intracranial tumor at work http://www.xiangya.com.cn/web/Content.aspx?chn=284&id=30126看不清黑板上的字, for most children because of myopia. However, Xiao Hao (a pseudonym), who just started junior high school, was suddenly blinded in just a few days from the initial inability to see. It turned out that Xiao Hao had a duck egg germ cell tumor growing in his brain, precisely because the tumor was compressing the optic nerve. Recently, Professor Li Xuejun from the Department of Neurosurgery of Xiangya Hospital of Central South University successfully operated on Xiao Hao, and carried out radiotherapy, so that Xiao Hao could finally see again. The tumor disappeared after comprehensive treatment, and the vision lost for 3 years, but within a few days he suddenly lost his eyesight. However, there were other problems with Xiao Hao’s body that were a bit out of place. He had to drink 15 pounds of water and go to the toilet 7 or 8 times a day. However, in September this year, Xiao Hao not only sudden vision loss very quickly, at first can still blurred to see a little something, within a few days will soon be unable to see anything, even with a flashlight, he can only feel a little light sweeping past his eyes. What’s more, Xiao Hao also experienced vomiting and headaches, and was so weak in bed that he couldn’t sleep at night because of the pain. It was only after a full body checkup that it was discovered that Xiao Hao had a tumor growing inside his skull. “It is because this tumor is pressing on the optic nerve that Xiao Hao is losing his eyesight and even going completely blind. But probably many people thought it was a myopia problem and ignored the possibility of intracranial tumor. However, Xiao Hao also showed symptoms of drinking more water and urinating more, which further confirmed that the tumor was at fault, because the tumor had eroded into Xiao Hao’s pituitary gland and affected hormone secretion to have these symptoms.” Professor Li Xuejun said. At this time, after years of treatment, Xiao Hao was not only blind, but his whole body condition was already very dangerous, and he started to develop hydrocephalus, drowsiness and impaired consciousness, which could be life-threatening at any time. The tumor, the size of a duck’s egg, had affected the supra-saddle area, hypothalamus and the three ventricles of Xiaohao’s brain, which are the important areas controlling the state of consciousness and hormone secretion. In addition, the tumor has completely encased the important intracranial vessels such as optic nerve, internal carotid artery and middle cerebral artery in a very unclear structure. The tumor had already eroded into these important areas, and surgical removal would probably destroy these important structures; if not treated surgically, it would probably cause brain herniation and threaten Xiao Hao’s life. Professor Li Xuejun made an immediate decision and performed a craniotomy on Xiao Hao that night. “The purpose of our surgery was to enable Xiaohao to pass the difficult hurdle of cranial hypertension. We performed extraventricular drainage and decompression of the right optic nerve, and left the rest to radiotherapy, so as to maximize the protection of the important intracranial structures and reduce the impact on Xiaohao’s quality of life in the future.” Professor Li Xuejun said. It turns out that, combined with these manifestations of Xiao Hao, Professor Li Xuejun judged that he was probably suffering from germ cell tumor, and the rapid intraoperative pathology results also confirmed Professor Li’s deduction. Germ cell tumor is an aggressive growing intracranial malignant tumor, which is a residual germ cell in the skull, commonly found in the saddle area, pineal gland and basal ganglia area. However, germ cell tumors are highly sensitive to radiotherapy, which can shrink the tumor or even make it disappear. As long as it is detected early, no craniotomy is required, thus no damage to important intracranial structures is caused. After the surgery, Xiaohao could see a little light in his right eye. After several radiotherapy treatments, the MRI review showed that the tumor had indeed disappeared, and Xiao Hao’s both eyes saw the light again, and he happily went around the ward every day. “With reasonable treatment, the majority of germ cell tumors have a 10-year survival rate of up to 90%, and as long as the diagnosis is made clearly as early as possible and the treatment is carried out in a timely manner with correct and scientific methods, the treatment effect is very good.” Professor Li Xuejun said. Experts remind that changes in vision may be caused by intracranial tumors. “If there is a sudden decrease in vision or a lack of vision, you should seek timely consultation with an experienced ophthalmologist to consider whether the intracranial tumor is compressing the optic nerve and causing changes in vision. Many patients think it is a simple loss of vision and often come to neurosurgery only when the tumor is very large, which delays the time of treatment.” Prof. Li Xuejun said. Professor Li Xuejun reminded that many intracranial lesions can directly threaten people’s vision, and some patients also go to the ophthalmology examination only to discover the primary intracranial lesions after vision loss and visual field becomes smaller. For example, meningioma, pituitary tumor, craniopharyngioma and some demyelinating intracranial diseases can cause loss of vision and visual field.