CHENNAI: Surgeons at Government Dental College Hospital along with doctors at the Institute of Child Health (ICH), Egmore, removed a rare tumour from the mouth of a seven-year-old boy in the second week of this month.
According to surgeons, the boy from Tiruvottriyur came to the ICH with complaint of massive growth in the jaw and also unable to speak and eat. The patient’s mother, aunt and grandmother also had such growth but not to this extent. So, they did not prefer to opt for surgery.
Surgeons diagnosed it as Familial Gigantiform Cementoma, a rare benign lesion of the jaw. “It is a rare case. This is the first case reported in India.
Across the world, only 55 cases are reported,” said C Prasad, Head of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery Department, Government Dental College Hospital.
“The growth was covering his entire mouth. We began the surgical process at 9.15 am and it went on till 4.30pm. We performed the surgery with general anaesthesia,” Prasad said.
The tumour weighed 1.5 kg. The tumour was removed and the damaged part in the jaw was reconstructed with titanium plate, a release said.
The patient is still kept under observation at the hospital. He will be discharged in one week or so. There is a possibility of regrowth of the tumour, so the patient needs to come for regular review, said Prasad.