Surgeons: At the Edge of Life

Addenbrooke's and Royal Papworth hospitals are two of the country's leading centres of medical excellence. Situated just metres apart on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, the largest centre of medical research and health science in Europe, some of the operations carried out here are so unusual and complex only surgeons at the top of their game can perform them.

At Addenbrooke's hospital, another marathon operation also requires the skills of two different specialties; Richard Mannion, a leading neurosurgeon, and consultant ENT surgeon Patrick Axon. Their patient, Gulraiz, has a rare type of tumour growing at the back of the brain. If it's not removed he will die.

To avoid any deterioration in the donor organs, the surgeons are up against the clock and must work fast to remove the first diseased lung and replace it. The new donor lung initially appears to be inflating and working well but, just as they cut the blood supply to the second diseased lung to remove it, it suddenly stops working.

For cardiothoracic surgeon Ravi De Silva there's a fine balance when it comes to his 75-year-old patient Maureen. She feels relatively well even though she has an enlarged aorta; the main vessel for carrying oxygenated blood to the body, but it is in danger of bursting. If it does burst it could be fatal, but the operation to fix it is also extremely high risk.