Pioneering op restores memory of gran who forgot her son’s name
A GRANDMOTHER who couldn’t remember her children’s names has had her memory fully restored thanks to a new treatment for the brain.
Maureen Lansdale was the first person in Europe to receive the pioneering surgery and has now made a complete recovery.
The 75-year- old widow was heartbroken when two years ago she started to lose her memory and couldn’t remember her own address or even the names of family members.
At first she thought she could be suffering from dementia but as the pains in her head grew worse and her memory deteriorated, she decided to visit her GP.
Mrs Lansdale was quickly transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where she was told she had a vascular malformation – when a vein and artery have incorrectly joined together – affecting her brain, with potentially fatal consequences.
But thanks to the pioneering treatment, where the vascular malformation is r e moved through the nose, Mrs Lansdale’s health and memory have been restored.
The grandmother of nine from Telford, Shropshire, who has three daughters and a son, said: ‘I’d suffered for years with terrible headaches that were often so bad I couldn’t lift my head from the pillow.
‘At t i mes I t hought my head would explode. The pain became so bad it affected my memory. I forgot who my son was, then my daughter. I thought I was losing my marbles or had a terrible disease.
‘Things came to a head at a birthday party. The music seemed so loud so my son went to ask them to turn it down. When he returned I realised I’d forgotten who he was. I remember saying, ‘‘I know I’m at a party with you and I know you’ve got a sister but I can’t remember her name either’’.’
After an hour the symptoms usually passed, but then kept reccurring. Mrs Lansdale recalls visiting her local shop and being unable to remember her way home. She was diagnosed in November 2013, after which NHS surgeons tried to remove the vascular malformation using keyhole surgery, before discovering there was a danger she could have been left blind.
‘The doctors suggested I try a new treatment which meant going through my nose and into my brain to cut out the bits causing me problems,’ Mrs Lansdale said. ‘It sounded scary being the first – but I couldn’t live the way I was living, so I agreed.’
She was referred to consultant neurosurgeon Alessandro Paluzzi who created the procedure where parts of the brain can be removed through the nostrils. He is the first surgeon in Europe to try it.
A day after the six hour operation last July Mrs Lansdale was walking. She was home after a few days. Dr Paluzzi said: ‘Maureen’s abnormality began within the nasal cavity and extended through the base of the skull into the brain. It made sense to approach it from the nose, a much safer route than coming from the top of the head and passing through normal brain.
‘It is the first time that a vascul ar malformation has been removed through the nose in UK and in Europe. The operation was possible here for the first time due to special endoscopic instruments which were donated by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity.’
A second patient with the same condition has now had the operation at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Mrs Lansdale said: ‘I’ve had the most wonderful thing done for me and I’m so grateful as I wasn’t ready to die. I’ve had a second chance to see my grandchildren grow up, which is the greatest gift anyone could have.’
She is raising money for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity’s Brain Surgery Appeal, and added: ‘I am lucky that I was fixed. I hope many others can benefit too.’
‘It sounded scary being the first’