Rome: Roma defender Leandro Castan will undergo neurosurgery next month because of a malformation in the brain.
Castan has been out of action since a September victory at Empoli, where he was substituted at halftime suffering from dizziness.
On Thursday, Roma says tests on Castan in the days following the match revealed "a congenital vascular alteration in his brain, a condition more commonly known as a cavernoma."
The club adds that "the cavernoma does not represent a threat" to Castan's life, but that he is at risk of the problem recurring.
He and the club mutually agreed on surgery at the beginning of December "in order to definitively cure the problem."
Castan joined Roma in 2012 from Corinthians, in his native Brazil.