The world’s tallest woman has been saved from being paralyzed and going blind after doctors removed a huge tumor from her brain.

Siddiqa Parveen, who is estimated to be 7ft 8in tall, had a spine on the ‘verge of breaking’ and was feared to be losing her sight.

The 28-year-old suffered from gigantism brought on by a tumour on the pituitary gland, producing excess growth hormone.

She had already suffered fractures to her spine and was unable to stand up straight .

Doctors in India feared her back would “snap” if she went untreated and put weight on.

They also feared the massive tumour would cause her to go blind.

She was forced to travel 1,000 miles from her remote village in West Bengal to Delhi for the life-saving operation.

Neurosurgeon Dr Ashish Suri, of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, said the operation had been a success.

“The tumour had to be taken out through the nose by inserting an endoscope through the nostrils,” he said.

“She suffered significant blood-loss during the operation as the tumour was a vascular one. But she coped well.”

Siddiqa’s unbelievable size saw her recently crowned the world’s tallest woman by Guinness Book of Records – but it caused significant medical challenges.

Her frame was so large doctors were forced to use a large operating table, as well as additional trolleys to cope.

Dr PK Bithal, head of neuroanaesthesiology said: “Our maximum bed size is six feet, both in the operating theatre and intensive care unit

“Positioning her appropriately for surgery was a big problem. Her head size was enlarged, which made access of the tumour with our instruments, like endoscopes, extremely difficult.

“Anaesthetising her was a problem with her head size, since we did not have endotracheal tubes of her size, and she had difficulty lying down with the multiple fractures in her spine.”

 

But hospital authorities say it is only “the first of multiple steps in her road to complete recovery”.

Siddiqa, who weighs 130kg and has enlarged hands and feet, has been released from the intensive care unit but remains in hospital.

However, her problems are not just physical and doctors say she will need to be treated for a ‘psychosocial crisis’ – having been isolated for much of her life.

Dr Suri said: “She has been confined to her house for the major part of her life. An old teacher from her area is the only one she communicates with and only speaks Bengali.

“She has been silent for so long, it will take us a long time to ensure her complete recovery,” said Dr Tandon.

Siddiqa was mentioned in the 2014 Guinness Book of World Records as the new record holder after the 2012 death of Yao Defen from China who, at 233.3 cm -7 feet 7 inches – was the tallest woman on earth.

Siddiqa’s entry in the latest book states: “The tallest woman living is Siddiqa Parveen of South Dinajpur, India, who in December 2012 was measured by Doctor Debasis Saha from Fortis Hospitals to be at least 222.25 cm (7 feet 3.5 inches).

“Dr Saha estimates her standing height to be at least 233.6 cm (7 ft 8 in).”

Source: healcon