Mumbai: In a major feat, doctors of the BMC’s LTMG hospital, Sion have successfully removed a massive and grotesque 2.5 kg tumour sprouting from the left side of the neck and shoulder of a 15-year-old boy since birth, officials said here.
The tumour not only caused discomfort but hit the boy’s personality, self-esteem, and even tilted his trachea to the right side from its original position, though he had no breathing issued.
After he was admitted to the Sion hospital on September 25, a full-fledged team of medicos comprising experts from different fields was formed, including Dr Mukund Jagannathan, Dr Amatnath Munoli, Dr Jayant Khandekar, Dr Vivek Ukeerde, Dr Shakuntala Basantwani, Dr Khushboo Kadkia, Dr Ashin Reddy, Dr Devendra Thakur, Dr Manisha Kharat and Dr Naval Jethalia and others.
“The boy had a lump since birth, it was growing slowly and did not bother him. When he was admitted, it had grown 22 cms X 30 cms. A MRI scan revealed that it was a network of ‘lymphatic system’ and blood vessels, and this tumour was growing out of the internal jugular vein, the main (blue) blood vessel in the neck,” explained the Sion hospital Dean, Dr Mohan Joshi.
After a complex surgery lasting nearly seven hours, the massive tumour was finally removed from the boy’s neck-shoulder region, proving a huge relief to the patient.
Later, the boy — whose name has not been revealed — surrounded by his beaming family, said: “A heavy burden has been lifted off my shoulders,” smiled Dr Joshi.
The surgery was tricky as the medical team had to navigate around critical blood vessels, nerves and muscles in the neck without causing any damage or trauma to the patient.
The medicos said that the teenager had been brought to hospital at the right time as the tumour kept growing, with uncertain prospects for the future or serious medical consequences if it was not removed surgically.
The boy is recovering very well post-surgery and his family is thrilled while the BMC hospitals’ medicos are proud that they have performed yet another surgical achievement in the government-run facility.
