‘My surgeon saved my smile with new hologram technology’

Susannah Morgan was left “frantic” when she learned an operation to remove a benign tumor in her neck could leave her with a crooked smile.

The 45-year-old woman was advised to have it removed if it turned out to be cancerous, but was warned the surgery could injure her neck and even cause paralysis.

Desperate to avoid being permanently disfigured, she researched options and discovered a new technique using holograms that could save her smile.

Last month an Edinburgh mother-of-one became the first person in Scotland to undergo the pioneering operation.

She was initially told that, to remove the pleomorphic adenoma, surgeons would have to cut out her largest salivary gland, which contains the facial nerve.

But new hologram technology allows surgeons to pinpoint the exact location of the facial nerve, making it less likely to be severed.

It also allows surgeons to open the salivary gland rather than remove it.

Susannah paid for a high-tech MRI scan in London, which produced a hologram.

It was then used by surgeon Ian Nixon, who performed the operation in Livingston, West Lothian, last month.

“Ian has saved my smile, I’m very grateful to him,” Susannah told BBC Scotland News.

“I feel on top of the world, I’m on high and it’s giving me a real euphoria.”

When she woke up from surgery, Susannah’s smile was crooked – but doctors told her this was temporary because a facial nerve had to be moved to reach the tumor.

“I cried when I saw my crooked smile right after surgery, so to think that it could have been permanent if Ian had not used this pioneering technique is just not worth thinking about,” she said.

“They had to lift the facial nerve, which is like a fine piece of spaghetti, to get to the tumor and because they had to handle it, they say it hurt, leaving it temporarily weakened. “

He said that if it had been accidentally cut during the operation, his face would have been paralyzed forever.

The new hologram technology reduced the chances of an accident with the surgeon.

Susanna went to the doctor for the first time in late November 2022 after finding a lump under her ear.

However the training doctor thought it was just salivary stones and told him to eat sour sweets to drain the saliva.

“It’s such a rare thing I’ve got that not many GPs know about it and I had bloods taken and they were all fine so it was dismissed.

“I didn’t think much of it because I thought it was a little swollen and I didn’t think it was a tumor.”

But then it began to grow and she noticed it growing out of her neck until it reached 3.5 cm (1 in), so she returned to the doctor a year later.

“I was really shocked when I was told it was a tumor. I was relieved to hear it was benign but they told me it could become cancer if I didn’t get it taken out.”

“Some people decide not to have surgery because it’s really scary to have surgery on your facial nerve because there’s a lot of risk.”

Susannah’s surgeon, Mr Nixon, said people have six major salivary glands and Susannah’s tumor was the largest, below the ear.

“This is pioneering technology and is allowing a more minimally invasive approach to tumor surgery that can be significantly more invasive and resulting in increased chances of surgery with a lower side effect profile.

“In a traditional operation you lift the skin up and you have to be careful not to damage the nerve because you know it has to be close.

“But if you know where it is before you start you can be more confident and more targeted.

“That’s the benefit of this pioneering technology and it makes it even safer.”

He said the operation saved his smile and prevented teeth from getting into his neck.

“This is very exciting and I think it will become standard procedure in the future.”