Brain tumour found in girl after routine check

A five-year-old girl was diagnosed as having a large brain tumour on her spinal cord after attending a routine eye check-up.

Etta Hannah, from Lerwick in Shetland, went for her first eye health check at the town’s Specsavers store before starting school this year.

The examination of the back of her eye raised cause for concern and she was referred for an emergency hospital appointment and a CT scan.

The scan at the Gilbert Bain Hospital revealed Etta had extreme swelling of the optic nerve which could have resulted in the loss of her sight.

Further tests and an MRI scan at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital uncovered a large brain tumour at the 0 Optometrist Thomas Bruin with Etta Hannah

back of Etta’s neck, which had spread down her spine. She has now had surgery to reduce the size of the tumour and is embarking on 18 months of low-level chemotherapy.

Etta’s father Robert Hannah said: “I had noticed some changes in Etta’s behaviour and a lack of appetite, but I would never have thought it could be a brain tumour.”