US Army Surgeon of Indian Origin Removes Brain Tumor via Nose

The procedure, performed on Marine Corps staff sergeant Dalton Beals, took about four hours and involved threading surgical instruments through his nostril to reach the tumor at the base of his skull.

Major (Dr.) Jagatkumar Patel, an anterior skull base surgeon, and Lt. Col. Charles Miller, a neurosurgeon, used a minimally invasive endoscopic approach that left no visible scars and required only a short hospital stay.

Beals, who had been suffering from headaches and vision problems, was back on duty within weeks. The tumor, a benign meningioma, was successfully removed in its entirety.

The technique, known as endoscopic endonasal surgery, is increasingly used for tumors in hard-to-reach areas of the brain, offering patients faster recovery and fewer risks than traditional craniotomy.