SEVE Ballesteros, the winner of five major championships and Europe's greatest ever Ryder Cup player, was said to be in a 'stable condition' yesterday after undergoing a seven-hour operation in Madrid on Tuesday to remove most of a brain tumour. He will be nursed in an intensive care ward at La Paz hospital before doctors decide when to begin possible radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments.
In a statement issued about his condition yesterday, the Spanish hospital reported that "the operation, with the objective of a resection of the detected brain tumour, started at 9am (on Tuesday] and concluded without complications."
A resection r
efers to a procedure to remove as much of a brain tumour as possible. Ballesteros, 51, was moved to intensive care after the operation where he was said to be conscious and stable. It is not yet known whether the tumour is benign or malignant.
The golfer was taken to the hospital last week after suffering a bout of dizziness and loss of consciousness at Madrid airport. He announced on Sunday that tests showed he was suffering from a brain tumour. Originally due to undergo a biopsy on Tuesday, the seriousness of Seve's situation prompted surgeons to remove the tumour.
The statement issued by the hospital yesterday read: "The patient, Severiano Ballesteros, yesterday underwent a surgical operation performed by the medical team of the Neurosurgery Service of the La Paz hospital. The operation, aimed at removing a brain tumour, began at 9am and ended without complications.
"The patient will spend a post-operative period in the intensive care unit. He is currently conscious and in stable condition, although he cannot receive visits in the coming days until he recovers from the surgery."
The hospital added that the next medical procedure would be undertaken after Ballesteros is able to leave the intensive care unit, which will probably be next week.
Brain Tumour UK, a charity which provides support around the country for both patients and families, would not comment directly yesterday about an individual case. However, a spokesman for the organisation indicated it was statistically probable that an adult in Seve's age group with his reported symptoms was likely to be suffering from a high grade glioma.
He added it wasn't unusual for surgeons to originally plan to perform a biopsy and then decide to remove as much of the tumour as possible. Surgery always involves risk, brain surgery particularly so, and it is not uncommon to combine procedures.
The spokesman indicated it was usually impossible for surgeons to excise all of the tumour and it was probable that a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy would be used in the weeks and months ahead to remove what remained of the growth.
The spokesman added that high grade gliomas can be aggressive: he recalled one patient who had a tumour removed in November only for it to grow back again before Christmas.
The gravity of the illness can hardly be overestimated. In the UK, 30 per cent of those diagnosed with malignant tumours only survive for a year, 14 per cent for five years and ten per cent for ten years.
When the winner of three Open championships and two Masters titles revealed last week that he was about to confront "the most difficult match of my life", Ballesteros was not exaggerating the scale of his predicament.
His former wife, Carmen Botin, and his three children were at the hospital while the surgery was performed, according to Spanish newspaper reports.
There have been concerns about Seve's health since he announced his retirement from competitive golf at Carnoustie in 2007. Doctors identified an irregular heartbeat last summer which required hospital treatment. Previously, persistent back problems led to his decision to stop competing.
FACT BOX• Around 4,500 people in the UK each year of all ages are diagnosed with primary brain tumours.
• Each year in the UK 3,500 people die of brain tumours.
• Survival rates for patients with brain tumours have not improved over the past 15 years. Thirty per cent only survive for a year, 14 per cent for five years and ten per cent for ten years.
• Men are more frequently affected by brain tumours than women. They can't be prevented because the cause is unknown.
• Even those patients who survive brain tumours are often left in poor health with long term disabling effects.
• Benign as well as malignant tumours can affect thought, emotion and physical functions.
• The cure rate for most malignant brain tumours is significantly lower than for most other cancers.
• Average life expectancy for an adult with a malignant brain tumour, treated with a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, is around 12-18 months.
The full article contains 795 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
