A huge tumour weighing five kilograms was successfully removed by doctors at the Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre (MMHRC) here during a liver surgery performed on a 46-year-old man from Tirunelveli.
The patient Sulthan Ibrahim who underwent the procedure on January 22, is now fully recovered, doctors said.
Ramesh Ardhanari, Head and Senior Consultant of Surgical Gastroenterology and Medical Director, MMHRC, told the media that the patient was carrying a large tumour that looked inseparable from the left lobe of the liver.
“In medical terms, it is called hemangioma where a hyperechoic mass measuring 32 cm in width was found through ultrasound and MRI scan of the abdomen. The tumour was removed in a surgery that lasted nearly three hours,” he said.
This type of tumour is a rare condition, the doctor added. The patient was presented with history of dyspepsia, vague upper abdominal pain and swelling in right upper quadrant of abdomen since one year.
He had no jaundice, fever, vomiting, loss of weight or loss of appetite, the doctor explained.
“The patient was in good condition despite the heavy tumour he was carrying in his liver. But the surgery was urgent for him because the tumour could have burst at any time because of the pressure,” he said.
According to him, the hemangioma in liver is a very rare case. After undergoing the surgery, the patient came for a review recently and he was found to be normal, while his food intake too had improved.
Caution
Dr. Ardhanari cautioned the public that regular consumption of alcohol would severely affect the liver, pancreas and heart.
Other doctors who were part of the surgery team were N. Mohan, senior consultant surgical gastroenterology and N. Maharajan, chief anaesthesiologist.