CHENNAI : Doctors at Apollo Hospitals saved a 23-year-old man from Assam by removing a massive cancerous tumour from his chest recently.According to a press release, a petty shopkeeper came to Apollo Hospitals with complaints of severe breathing difficulty and vomiting episodes. After physical examination and a chest CT scan, it was found that the young man had a cancerous tumour of the size of a football (2.2 kg). The patient was immediately shifted to Apollo Cancer Institute for further evaluation and treatment, recently.
The biopsy report revealed that the tumour was cancerous. It was adding pressure to the patient’s lungs, heart and the food pipe due to which he was having difficulty in breathing and swallowing food. “This is a rare tumour in the diaphragm and only 25 such cases have been reported worldwide,” the release added.
Doctors removed the tumour by thoracotomy procedure, a major surgical procedure. Since the tumour was within the diaphragm, the rib cage was not visible; it was a challenging case for the doctors. Since the size of the tumour was huge, it had to be handled with utmost care to avoid damage to the other organs. The patient was discharged after he was stable, the release said.