Brain Tumour
دماغ کی رسولیBrain tumours are abnormal growths of cells inside the skull, and they may be benign or malignant. These growths take up space inside the skull, so a new headache or a first fit is often the earliest sign. Their treatment in Lahore begins with an MRI, and a neurosurgeon advises surgery when the scan shows it is needed.
What a brain tumour is
A brain tumour is a lump of cells growing where they should not, inside the skull. It may start in the brain itself or in the tissues around it: the covering membranes, the nerves, the pituitary gland or the bone. It may also have spread from a cancer elsewhere in the body, most often the lung or the breast; these are called secondary tumours.
Brain tumours are benign or malignant. A benign tumour grows slowly and has a clear edge, and it does not spread; a meningioma growing from the brain's covering is the common example. A malignant tumour grows faster and sends roots into the surrounding brain, and it can come back after removal. Benign does not mean harmless. The skull is a closed box, and even a slow-growing lump eventually presses on brain that has nowhere to move, so benign tumours can still cause fits, weakness, headache and loss of sight.
Warning signs and red flags
Most headaches are not tumours. The pattern that worries a neurosurgeon is a new headache in someone who did not have headaches before, which is worse in the morning or wakes the patient from sleep, which builds up over weeks, which does not settle with ordinary painkillers, and which comes with vomiting. A fit in an adult who has never had one is the other big warning sign and should always be scanned.
Other signs depend on where the lump sits. Weakness or numbness creeping into one arm or leg points to the movement area. Blurred or double vision points to the back of the brain or the pituitary region. Difficulty finding words, a change in personality or memory, unsteady walking and deafness in one ear are all reasons for a scan. Drowsiness that is getting deeper is an emergency.
Causes and who gets it
For most brain tumours no cause is ever found, and families should not search for something they did wrong. The two known risk factors are previous radiation to the head and a handful of rare inherited conditions that run in families. Stress and mobile phone use have not been proven to cause brain tumours.
Brain tumours occur at every age. Children tend to get tumours at the back of the brain, while adults more often develop gliomas and meningiomas in the upper part. Secondary tumours appear in people who already have a cancer elsewhere, and sometimes the brain symptom is the first clue to that cancer.
How it is diagnosed
The neurosurgeon first examines the patient: strength, sensation, reflexes, vision, speech, balance and the back of the eye, where pressure inside the skull can be seen. A CT scan is often the first picture because it is quick, and it shows bleeding, brain swelling, a shift of the brain and most large tumours. The MRI with contrast is the test that answers the real questions: where the lump is, what it is likely to be, how much swelling surrounds it and how close it sits to the speech and movement areas.
A scan suggests, but only tissue confirms. Usually the tissue is taken at the operation that removes the tumour, and the pathology report a few days later gives the type and grade. When a tumour is deep or in a place where removal would do harm, a biopsy is taken instead through a small hole in the skull, guided by the scan. Tumours near the pituitary gland need hormone blood tests as well, and they have their own page on pituitary tumours.
Treatment: surgery and what comes with it
Treatment is planned around the type of tumour, its position, its size and the patient's general health. A small benign tumour found by chance may only need watching with repeat scans. Steroid tablets reduce the swelling around a tumour and often relieve headache and weakness within days, and medicine to prevent fits is started for anyone who has had one.
Surgery has two aims: to remove as much of the tumour as can be taken safely, and to obtain tissue so the diagnosis is certain. Dr. Salman Falak performs brain tumour surgery in Lahore under the operating microscope, through a window of bone that is replaced at the end of the operation. How much is removed is decided by safety; a surgeon does not trade a patient's speech or the use of an arm for the last few millimetres of tumour. For benign tumours, complete removal is often the whole treatment. For malignant tumours, surgery is the first step and is followed by radiotherapy and, in many cases, chemotherapy under an oncologist.
What recovery looks like
After a brain tumour operation the patient usually spends the first night in intensive care and then a few more days on the ward. The head wound heals in about two weeks and tiredness is normal for several weeks. Physiotherapy and speech therapy start early when weakness or speech problems were present, and a good deal of function that was lost to pressure returns once the pressure is gone.
For a benign tumour that has been fully removed, follow-up is usually a scan at intervals and nothing more. For a malignant tumour, the radiotherapy and chemotherapy plan follows recovery from surgery. Dr. Salman Falak will not promise a cure he cannot see on the scan and in the report, but he will say plainly that many tumours are controlled for a long time and many patients return to family and working life.
When to see a neurosurgeon
See a neurosurgeon without waiting if you or a family member has a new headache that is worse in the morning and building over weeks, a first fit as an adult, weakness spreading down one side, or a change in vision, speech, balance or behaviour. If a CT or MRI report anywhere in Punjab mentions a mass or a space-occupying lesion, take it to a neurosurgeon the same week.
Patients travelling from Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Gujranwala and beyond can send the scan images on WhatsApp first. Dr. Salman Falak reviews them, tells the family whether the situation is urgent, and plans the Lahore visit so the remaining tests and the operation happen in one stay instead of several journeys. The page for patients travelling from other cities explains how that is arranged.
Related procedures and pages
The operation described here is brain tumour surgery, linked above. Tumours of the pituitary gland are removed through the nose by a different technique, endoscopic pituitary surgery, which has its own page. Both belong to the brain surgery Dr. Salman Falak does in Lahore, alongside surgery for trigeminal neuralgia. Families who want a first opinion before travelling can book an online consultation and send the scan ahead, and the Friday OPD in Gujranwala and the Tuesday OPD in Phool Nagar are options for a first examination.
Questions patients ask
Which hospital is best for brain tumours in Pakistan?
There is no single answer; judge by what the case needs: a neurosurgeon trained in tumour surgery, an operating microscope, an intensive care unit, a reliable pathology laboratory and access to radiotherapy and an oncologist. Ask any surgeon where the pathology is read and who gives the radiotherapy; clear answers tell you more than a ranking. Dr. Salman Falak consults and operates in Lahore and explains this at the first visit.
How much does brain tumour surgery cost?
The cost depends on the hospital, the length of stay, whether intensive care is needed, and the type of tumour, because some need radiotherapy and chemotherapy afterwards. Dr. Salman Falak explains the expected costs at the consultation once the scan has been reviewed.
Is brain tumour surgery successful?
For many benign tumours, yes: complete removal is often the whole treatment and the patient returns to normal life. For malignant tumours success means something different: relief of pressure, protection of speech and movement, a firm diagnosis, and the best possible start for the radiotherapy and chemotherapy that follow. The honest answer for your case comes after the MRI.
Is a brain tumour completely curable?
Some are and some are not. A benign tumour that is removed completely is usually cured and may never trouble the patient again. Malignant tumours, especially the high-grade gliomas, can be controlled and their symptoms relieved, sometimes for a long time, but no surgeon can promise a complete cure before the tissue report is back.
Can the MRI be done in Faisalabad or Gujranwala and sent before I travel?
Yes. An MRI of the brain with contrast is available in most large cities of Punjab, and the films or the CD images can be photographed and sent on WhatsApp. Dr. Salman Falak reviews them and tells you whether the case is urgent and what the plan for Lahore will be.
How long will my family and I need to stay in Lahore?
For surgery, plan on about two weeks. That covers the tests and preparation, the operation, the hospital stay and a wound check before the journey home. Routine follow-up afterwards is done by video, with the scan done near home.
Send your MRI. Get a clear answer before you travel.
WhatsApp your reports and your city, and you will be told whether surgery is likely, which tests to bring, and which OPD is nearest to you.