Japanese surgeon removes healthy brain tissue, leaving woman on ventilator

A Japanese woman was left unable to breathe on her own after a veteran surgeon mistakenly removed healthy tissue instead of a benign tumour from her brain.Kyoto University Hospital apologised for the medical error and vowed to take measures to prevent similar incidents, local news outlet TV Asahi reported.The woman, in her fifties, was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour after consulting doctors for dizziness and unsteadiness. Although she was able to carry out her daily activities, she agreed to undergo surgery to remove the growth, which had formed inside the cerebellopontine angle deep within the brain.The 10-hour operation was considered complex as there were nerves surrounding the area. A team of three surgeons – led by a doctor with more than 20 years of neurosurgery experience – performed the procedure in late July.According to the hospital, the surgeon performed tests twice during the operation to determine whether the removed tissue was tumourous.Despite the initial biopsy result indicating that the tissue was “not a tumour”, the surgeon continued with the excision, believing “only the edge of the tumour tissue had been taken”, the hospital said, according to The Sankei newspaper. When a second pathological test showed the same result, the doctor concluded the tumour had been completely removed.But the patient did not regain consciousness after the operation and was unable to breathe unassisted. An MRI scan later revealed that a healthy section of her brain, including the brainstem – which controls breathing and movement – had been damaged. The tumour remained intact.