NEW DELHI: In a major surgery, a tumor weighing 17 kg was taken out from the abdomen of a 30-year-old woman suffering from a rare ovarian tumor (growing teratoma syndrome) by doctors at AIIMS.
AIIMS experts claimed that it was the largest ovarian tumor removal in India till now and the case has been sent to be documented in Limca Book of Records.
The biggest ovarian cyst removal in India till now mentioned in the Limca Book of Records is of 6.1 kg.
N Devi, a native of Bihar was referred to AIIMS in December last year with huge abdominal tumor which was growing rapidly and caused constant pain.
The woman had developed a small cystic tumor in her right ovary for which she had undergone ovarian cystectomy followed by 3 cycles of chemotherapy in Bihar in March 2014, said Dr Neerja Bhatla from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, AIIMS.
“However, even after chemotherapy, the mass inside the abdomen kept growing progressively.
“In fact within 8-9 months the tumor had already occupied whole of her abdomen and the doctors at other places had given up on the case,” said Bhatla.
Once brought to AIIMS, surgical oncologists evaluated her and found her fit for surgery.
“On evaluation we found that she was fit for surgery as this was the only option before us for treating this kind of tumor. CT Scan conducted on her showed huge abdomino pelvic mass originating from right adnexal region and her uterus and urinary bladder could not be seen separately.
“Also there were multiple large deposits seen in different parts of abdomen and at the entrance of liver. Biopsy showed possibility of Germ cell tumor, the treatment option for which is only surgery,” said M D Ray, the Surgical oncologist at AIIMS.
One February 28, a team of doctors operated upon her.
“It was immensely challenging as we had to remove the tumor along with almost whole of the urinary bladder and a part of the large intestine. This was risky as it was highly vascular tumor and getting an access to the tumor was difficult because of the large mass. We had to increase the midline incision and separately made horizontal incisions to reach to the roots,” explained Dr Ray.
The operation took eight hours after which the doctors had to entirely reconstruct the urinary bladder with the intestine and reconnect the large and small bowels to maintain the continuity of the gut.
Teratoma tumor actually is a Germ cell tumor which happens in case of females in the ovary and in case of males in testis in between 22-40 years.
Women with benign (non-cancerous) germ cell tumors are cured by removing the part of the ovary that has the tumor.
The woman will be discharged soon and her abdomen has reduced to normal.
“She will require regular follow up and treatment has to continue and such tumors often recur,” said Ray. -PTI
