Noida: For a year, 13-year-old Iligay Sarsebek from Kazakhstan’s Shymkent was plagued by bulging in her right eye and slow loss of vision. When she completely lost her vision in the affected eye, a complex treatment at a Ghaziabad hospital showed light — a delicate surgery, performed in Feb 2026, helped her regain her sight and get back to normal life. Indian doctors first assessed the teenager during an international outpatient consultation held in Shymkent around Jan end. Doctors concluded Iligay’s troubles were caused by a nerve tumour behind her eye: an optic glioma, a rare, slow-growing tumour seen in children.Scans showed the growth extending towards the brain, raising concerns about potential neurological complications.After counselling about treatment options such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, the family chose advanced surgical intervention in India. Iligay was admitted to Max Super Speciality Hospital, Vaishali, where specialists planned a procedure to carefully remove the tumour and prevent further intracranial damage.Speaking about the case, Dr Gaurav Bansal, senior director of neurosurgery, said, “The location of the tumour made surgery particularly challenging. Our priority was complete removal while preventing any further damage to the brain. Given the extent of spread, removing the affected eye with the tumour and reconstructing the area was the safest option.”The operation lasted around four to five hours and required a skull base-oriented microsurgical approach to safely access deeper structures while protecting surrounding nerves and blood vessels. Because vision in the affected eye was already lost and the tumour spread extensively, surgeons removed the diseased eye along with the tumour and placed an implant, followed by reconstruction to aid healing.Dr Gaurav Batra, consultant neurosurgery, added, “Careful planning helped us create a safe surgical corridor and preserve vital surrounding anatomy. Timely intervention is crucial in preventing tumour extension to the optic chiasm and other critical structures.”Doctors noted that early warning signs of optic nerve tumours include gradual painless vision loss, persistent eye bulging, squint, headaches with visual symptoms and behavioural changes such as difficulty reading or bumping into objects.
