Guru of Jain Religion Regaining Sight After Tumor is Removed Through the Nose

Pittsburgh, February 23, 2009 -- Neurosurgeons at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) have successfully removed the brain tumor of one of the world’s spiritual leaders. Acharya Yashovijaysuri, a guru of Jainism -- a sect of Hinduism and one of the world’s oldest religions -- had lost sight in his left eye and was losing sight in his right eye, due to a golf ball-sized non-malignant tumor that was pressing on his optic nerve.

Less than two weeks post surgery, the progression of Acharya Yashovijaysuri’s blindness has halted and he is recovering sight in both eyes.

Acharya Yashovijaysuri

UPMC neurosurgeons removed the tumor from Mr. Yashovijaysuri’s brain by way of his nose. This technique, pioneered at UPMC, allows surgeons to reach tumors at the base of the skull, central brain and top of the spinal cord by operating through the nose and nasal sinuses. The procedure leaves virtually no scars and has only minor side effects.

Finding a surgical team to entrust with the guru’s care was challenging. An MRI at a Mumbai, India hospital showed the tumor pressing on Yashovijaysuri’s optic nerve, and in mid-December, surgeons there performed a craniotomy -- the traditional surgical approach to reach a skull base tumor -- but felt that removal of the tumor was too risky and complex. A group of Yashovijaysuri’s followers researched other options, consulted neurosurgeons from across the globe and concluded that the UPMC team would be the best choice for removing the guru’s tumor.

However, Yashovijaysuri, a strict follower of Jainism and spiritual leader to more than one million followers, leads a non-violent life, completely free of material goods. In keeping with these beliefs, he travels only by foot and carefully sweeps the ground before him to avoid injuring insects. The community of followers and the Jain high priest permitted this unprecedented trip for Yashovijaysuri, recognizing the rapid progression of his blindness and the hope for treatment.

Remarkably, at Yashovijaysuri’s follow-up visit to UPMC this week, prior to his return to Gujarat, India, he was able, for the first time in two years, to see light through the eye that was completely blind and noted significantly improved vision in the other eye.

“These are extraordinary results -- better that we expected,” said Amin Kassam, MD, professor of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at UPMC, who pioneered this procedure along with Carl Snyderman, MD, and Ricardo Carrau, MD, both UPMC otolaryngologists and professors of otolaryngology and neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Drs. Kassam, Snyderman and Carrau, began investigating endoscopic transnasal brain surgery in 1998 and have gained international acclaim for their ability to visualize these lesions and custom design instruments to reach and safely remove them. The surgical team has performed more than 1,200 endoscopic endonasal cases to date, making them a world leader in minimally invasive brain surgery.

This endonasal work, combined with a new minimally invasive technique developed at UPMC -- the NeuroendoportSM -- which is used to reach tumors within the substance of the brain and within its fluid spaces, enables the UPMC team to reach tumors often thought to be very difficult and risky to reach through conventional surgery techniques.