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SCMP’s Asia desk

A Japanese woman was left unable to breathe on her own after a veteran surgeon mistakenly removed healthy tissue instead of a benign tumour from her brain.
Kyoto University Hospital apologised for the medical error and vowed to take measures to prevent similar incidents, local news outlet TV Asahi reported.
The woman, in her fifties, was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour after consulting doctors for dizziness and unsteadiness. Although she was able to carry out her daily activities, she agreed to undergo surgery to remove the growth, which had formed inside the cerebellopontine angle deep within the brain.
The 10-hour operation was considered complex as there were nerves surrounding the area. A team of three surgeons – led by a doctor with more than 20 years of neurosurgery experience – performed the procedure in late July.
According to the hospital, the surgeon performed tests twice during the operation to determine whether the removed tissue was tumorous.
Despite the initial biopsy result indicating that the tissue was “not a tumour”, the surgeon continued with the excision, believing “only the edge of the tumour tissue had been taken”, the hospital said, according to the Sankei newspaper. When a second pathological test showed the same result, the doctor concluded the tumour had been completely removed.
But the patient did not regain consciousness after the operation and was unable to breathe unassisted. An MRI scan later revealed that a healthy section of her brain, including the brainstem – which controls breathing and movement – had been damaged. The tumour remained intact.
While she has since been able to respond to questions by blinking, she remains dependent on artificial ventilation.
When asked whether the lead surgeon – who had performed more than 100 such surgeries – had made the wrong decision by continuing despite the negative test results, the hospital’s chief of neurosurgery, Yoshiteru Ara told the broadcaster: “I perform surgeries myself, and that kind of thing happens sometimes. Even if we report it twice, we are told it’s not a tumour. It’s something we experience often.”
Asked if the error was due to overconfidence stemming from experience, Ara replied: “I think so.”
He said that the surgeon had since reviewed the video of the operation and post-operative magnetic resonance imaging scan, and was “apologetic for the misdiagnosis”.
Kyoto University Hospital performs an average of 156 brain tumour surgeries annually.
“We offer our deepest apologies,” hospital director Akifumi Takaori said. “We will do our best to provide the best possible treatment, and we will investigate the cause and formulate effective measures to prevent recurrence.”
The hospital has since implemented a system where more than one person has to verify test results during a brain tumour removal surgery.
Japan introduced a medical accident investigation system under the Medical Care Act in October 2015, mandating internal reviews for unexpected deaths. However, a study published in the JMA Journal in 2023 found that under-reporting persisted because of fears of legal liability and a lack of strict penalties for non-compliance.


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The veteran doctor ignored negative biopsy results during the 10-hour surgery at Kyoto University Hospital, leaving the tumour intact


The veteran doctor ignored negative biopsy results during the 10-hour surgery at Kyoto University Hospital, leaving the tumour intact.


Kyoto University

Japanese surgeon removes healthy brain tissue, leaving woman on ventilator

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The veteran doctor ignored negative biopsy results during the 10-hour surgery at Kyoto University Hospital, leaving the tumour intact

The veteran doctor ignored negative biopsy results during the 10-hour surgery at Kyoto University Hospital, leaving the tumour intact