New Hologram Technology Preserves Patient’s Smile During Tumor Surgery

Susannah Morgan experienced “frantic” distress upon learning that a surgical procedure to extract a benign tumor from her neck carried the risk of resulting in a crooked smile. The 45-year-old received advice to undergo its removal due to the potential for it to become cancerous, though she was cautioned that the surgery also posed risks of a neck indentation and potential paralysis. Driven by a desire to prevent permanent disfigurement, she explored alternative methods and identified an innovative technique involving a hologram, capable of preserving her smile. The mother-of-one, residing in Edinburgh, underwent this groundbreaking procedure last month, marking her as the first individual in Scotland to do so. Initially, she was informed that the removal of the pleomorphic adenoma would necessitate surgeons excising her largest salivary gland, which encases the facial nerve. However, the novel hologram technique enables surgeons to precisely identify the facial nerve’s exact position, thereby reducing the likelihood of it being severed. Furthermore, this method permits surgeons to incise the salivary gland instead of removing it entirely. Susannah privately funded a high-technology MRI scan in London, which generated a hologram. This hologram was subsequently utilized by Iain Nixon, the surgeon who carried out the procedure in Livingston, West Lothian, last month. “Iain has saved my smile, I’m so thankful to him” Susannah told BBC Scotland News.”I feel on top of the world, I’m on a high and it’s giving me a real buzz.” Upon awakening from the surgery, Susannah’s smile appeared crooked; however, medical professionals clarified that this condition was transient, resulting from the necessary displacement of the facial nerve to access the tumor. “I cried when I saw my squint smile straight after the surgery so to think it could have been permanent if Iain hadn’t used this pioneering technique doesn’t bear thinking about,” she said. “He had to lift the facial nerve, which is like a fine bit of spaghetti, to get to the tumour and because he had to man-handle it they say it gets bruised so that weakens it temporarily.” She stated that an accidental severance of the nerve during the procedure would have resulted in permanent facial paralysis. The innovative hologram technique significantly reduced the probability of such an accidental occurrence by the surgeon. Susannah initially consulted a physician at the close of November 2022, having discovered a lump situated beneath her ear. Nevertheless, the doctor in training misidentified it as merely a salivary stone and advised her to consume sour sweets to stimulate salivary flow. “It’s such a rare thing I’ve got that a lot of GPs don’t know about it and I had bloods taken and they were all fine so it was just dismissed.”I didn’t think too much of it because I just thought it was a bit swollen and didn’t think it was a tumour.” Subsequently, it began to enlarge, becoming visibly prominent from her neck until it measured 3.5cm (1in), prompting her to revisit the doctor a year thereafter. “I was really shocked when I was told it was a tumour. I was relived to hear it was benign but he told me if he didn’t get it out it could turn cancerous.””Some people chose not to have surgery because it’s really scary to have surgery on your facial nerve because there is a lot of risk to it.” Mr. Nixon, Susannah’s operating surgeon, explained that individuals possess six primary salivary glands, and Susannah’s tumor was located on the largest of these, situated beneath the ear. “This is pioneering technology and is allowing a more minimally invasive approach to tumour surgery which can be quite disfiguring and this heralds the possibility of surgery with a lower side effect profile as a result.”With a traditional operation you lift up the skin and you’ve got to be careful so that you don’t damage the nerve because you know it must be close.”But if you know where it is before you start you can be much more confident and more targeted.”That is the advantage of this pioneering technology and it makes it even safer.” He further noted that the surgical intervention had preserved her smile and prevented the formation of a dent in her neck. “It is very exciting and I think this will become standard procedure in the future.”