WINTER 2019
Partners in Caring F R O M C O N N E C T I C U T C H I L D R E N ’ S M E D I C A L C E N T E R F O U N D AT I O N
Myer Murphy, 8, was diagnosed in 2015 with a rare skull-base tumor called a dermoid cyst of the cavernous sinus. He was surgically treated in January 2017 by Dr. Paul Kanev, who has only encountered seven such cysts in 30 years as a neurosurgeon.
The Greatest Gift While his youngest patients sometimes refer to him as
“Santa Claus”–or “Santa Claus’ brother”–Dr. Paul Kanev’s compassion, expertise and skill as a pediatric neurosurgeon are the life-saving gifts he delivers year-round. In a medical career spanning four decades, Dr. Kanev has treated more than 10,000 children, including trauma victims, children with spine or craniofacial malformations and pediatric patients with hydrocephalus and skull tumors. While hydrocephalus is one of the most common conditions he treats surgically, the large skull-base tumors are the most challenging and are usually very rare. That was certainly true in the case of Myer Murphy. “I JUST THINK THAT VERY SPECIAL PEOPLE ARE Myer, the 8-year-old son PUT IN YOUR LIFE FOR A of Sara and Kenneth REASON, AND I THINK THAT Murphy of Enfield, was DR. PAUL WAS PUT IN OURS diagnosed in 2015 with a FOR MYER. HE GAVE MYER rare dermoid cyst of the A NEW LIFE, AND WE ARE cavernous sinus— FOREVER GRATEFUL.” a walnut-sized mass that, ~ Sara Murphy, Myer’s mother although benign, was
compressing a cranial nerve, causing paralysis in his left eye and ptosis, or “dropping” eye. In the past 30 years, Dr. Kanev has only encountered six other patients with dermoid cysts of the cavernous sinus, with Myer being the only patient diagnosed with the condition in the last 12 years at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.
Myer’s Story At first, there were occasional headaches, his mother, Sara, said. “One thing Myer would always do is cover his left eye; he would hide behind his hat or the hood of his jacket. We just thought he was shy.” But when random illnesses progressed over time to paralysis and ptosis, the family brought Myer to Connecticut Children’s, where they met Dr. Kanev. Dr. Kanev formulated a treatment plan for when the dermoid grew, and in January 2017, Myer underwent a skull-base technique developed in the former Yugoslavia by Dr. Vinko Dolenc, a physician Dr. Kanev had trained with while at the University of Washington in 1989. This allowed resection of the dermoid without injury to the optic and cranial nerves. (continued on page 2)