Andrew Wood, 61, was told he had a brain aneurysm – a swelling in a blood vessel in the brain – and faced a craniotomy, but Leeds surgeons performed pioneering keyhole surgery through his eye socket instead
A man has been spared the ordeal of a craniotomy after surgeons carried out a ground-breaking UK-first procedure, moving his eye aside to treat a potentially life-threatening brain condition.
Andrew Wood was left “shocked” upon learning he had a brain aneurysm – a dangerous bulge in a blood vessel in the brain that can prove fatal if it ruptures. Under normal circumstances, he would have required a craniotomy – a procedure in which surgeons remove part of the skull and move the brain to reach the affected area and administer treatment.
However, specialists from Leeds deployed an innovative technique to reach the aneurysm through Mr Wood’s eye socket.
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Surgeons at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust successfully performed a keyhole brain aneurysm operation via the eye socket – marking the very first time this procedure has been conducted anywhere in the UK. “This meant that we could directly access the aneurysm without even having to touch the brain,” said consultant neurosurgeon Asim Sheikh.
Mr Wood spent just a single night in hospital following the procedure, compared to the typical recovery stay of around a week. The 61-year-old grandfather and builder was back on site in May, just weeks after the landmark operation took place in February.
The aneurysm was discovered while Mr Wood was undergoing scans for an entirely separate medical issue last spring. “I was shocked. I didn’t have any symptoms whatsoever,” he said.
“Mr Sheikh got his hands on my case and it just went 100 miles an hour from there. I’m in the building trade so the way it was explained to me was: you can do something causing minimum damage and get the same result. I thought it was great.”
One procedure is clipping, whereby a neurosurgeon carefully positions a small metal clip across the base of the aneurysm to stop it from rupturing. The specialist team from Leeds utilised the new minimally invasive method to reach Mr Wood’s aneurysm. Surgeons made a “tiny” incision at the side of Mr Wood’s eye and a cut on the outer wall of the eye socket to gain access to the aneurysm.
Mr Sheikh said that Mr Wood “got the best of both worlds” by having the surgery. The team behind the procedure carried out a comparable operation in 2024, when they successfully removed a brain tumour through a patient’s eye socket — another UK first.
Mr Sheikh told the Press Association: “As we gained more experience, we realised that the same approach could be used to access other pathologies in the similar area – in Andrew’s case a brain aneurysm. His aneurysm happened to be in a very easily accessible area, which would have been perfect for this technique.
“And that means he can get the best of both worlds of the surgical treatment of his aneurysm – the best possible, durable cure for his aneurysm while cutting down on the drawbacks of having surgery including big cuts and scars, big incisions on the head and also the morbidity of going through the brain and retracting the brain – all that is completely taken away by this minimal access surgery.”
In preparation for the operation, biomechanical engineers from the hospital constructed a custom 3D printed replica of Mr Wood’s eye socket and adjacent skull base structure, along with the aneurysm itself. This enabled Mr Sheikh and consultant maxillofacial surgeon Jiten Parmar to plan and practise the procedure, customised precisely to Mr Wood’s unique anatomy.
Mr Sheikh described the operation as a “significant step forward in minimally invasive brain surgery in the UK”. He added: “It was easily accessible through this approach. Traditionally, we would have done a traditional craniotomy, which means making a big opening in the skull and reaching it through that to where his aneurysm was situated between two parts of the brain called the frontal and temporal.
“So traditionally, you have to split the two halves, pull them apart to get to the aneurysm, and then place a metal clip across it. With this technique, we didn’t even have to touch the brain, we didn’t have to put any retraction on the brain and we were directly approaching the aneurysm, which meant that the morbidity of the operation itself was substantially reduced.”
Specialists at the hospital also used 3D-printing technology to create bespoke retractors to shield the eye throughout the procedure. “That meant we weren’t pushing on the on the eyeball as well. And that created the corridor which allowed us to access the aneurysm,” Mr Sheikh said.
Mr Parmar added: “This case highlights how working in partnership across specialities, combining decades of experience and working closely with our engineering team can result in a better outcome for our patients. Most importantly, we achieved a brilliant result for the patient who went home the next day.”
Mr Wood added: “I was in hospital for just one night. I was asked to make some toast and a cup of tea to make sure my faculties were OK, I had another quick scan and then they asked if I wanted to go home. It has been perfect since, I’ve had no double vision, no pain, I’m back at work – just have to watch out that I don’t hit myself with a two by four.”
He continued: “Thanks to the skill of the surgical team, I’ve been given a second chance. I’m really grateful for their kindness and expertise – they are an outstanding team. I’m proud to have been part of such an important procedure and I’m amazed at how quickly I recovered and returned home.”
