Expressnews
Chennai, January 10, 2024: SRM Global Hospitals successfully saved the life of a 78-year-old former nurse by removing a ‘football-sized’ diaphragm tumor, overcoming significant surgical challenges posed by the tumor’s location within the chest cavity, the patient’s advanced age, and comorbidities, including type-2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
Several months ago, the woman, a known cancer patient, underwent surgery at another hospital where her tumor was partially removed. However, following the procedure, the tumor grew rapidly, compressing her right lung and displacing her heart and other vital organs further to the left within the chest cavity. By the time she was admitted to SRM Global Hospitals with severe shortness of breath, the tumor had expanded to a humongous size of 15x15x15 cm.
The surgical procedure, led by Dr. Sujith Velayudhan Indira, Senior Consultant in Cardiothoracic Surgery, and assisted by Dr. Srinath, Cardiac Anesthetist; Dr. B. Nembian Raja Rajan, Assistant Consultant in Cardiothoracic Surgery; and Dr. Sindhu V., Consultant in Pulmonology, successfully resulted in the complete removal of the tumor. The patient was discharged six days after the surgery, but will undergo radiation therapy over the coming months as a precautionary measure to eliminate any undetected microscopic remnants of the tumor.
Talking about the treatment, Dr. Sujith Velayudhan Indira explained, “The patient had developed a giant right-sided intra-thoracic mass at the diaphragm within the chest cavity. The tumor was so large that it compressed and collapsed the lower lobe of the right lung while pushing the heart and other vital organs further to the left. This led to the development of dyspnoea (shortness of breath). While tumors in the diaphragm within the abdominal region are relatively common, a diaphragm tumor within the chest cavity is extremely rare and has not been reported in the literature so far. Additionally, the patient had a known history of type-2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease, which made the surgery even more challenging.”
He further added, “The medical team performed a thoracotomy and successfully removed the 1.2 kg tumor completely. The procedure also involved removing part of the diaphragm to minimise the risk of recurrence. We reconstructed the diaphragm as part of the surgery. Following the procedure, the patient developed vasoplegia due to the significant amount of blood contained within the tumor that was removed. This was managed effectively with blood transfusions and medications. Despite these challenges, her kidney function remained stable and unchanged after the surgery.”
Dr. P. Sathyanarayanan, President of SRM Group of Companies, commended the team for their remarkable achievement, saying, “Conducting surgery in the highly vascular chest cavity itself is risky. However, our team successfully accomplished what is inherently a challenging procedure. It was a tremendous team effort and yet another demonstration of our expertise in taking on high-risk operations when absolutely necessary to save a life and enhance the quality of life. The patient, being a former nurse, showed full courage and cooperated wholeheartedly with the treatment.”
