20-kg tumour removed from Chennai woman's ovary

The patient, S Rathi, was hospitalised on November 16 and the two-hour-long surgery was performed on December 10.
Doctors interact with S Rathi, who underwent surgery. (Photo | Ashwin Prasath, EPS)
Doctors interact with S Rathi, who underwent surgery. (Photo | Ashwin Prasath, EPS)

CHENNAI: Doctors at the Government Hospital for Women and Children, Egmore, removed a 20 kg tumour from one of the ovaries of a 51-year-old woman from Chrompet recently. The tumour grew in size gradually over seven years, the doctors said.

The doctors said that this was the first such case ever reported in the 175-year-history of the hospital. The tumour was removed and sent for a biopsy to find out if it was cancerous. 

The patient, S Rathi, was hospitalised on November 16 and the two-hour-long surgery was performed on December 10. The surgery was done in a way so that there's no damage to the tumour. 

Speaking to reporters about the case on Tuesday Dr Seethalakshmi, professor, Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, Government Hospital for Women and Children said, "The size of the patient's stomach was double the size of a full-term pregnant woman. Tumour was found on the left ovary. Ovaries tumours are mostly reported among women in the age group of 45-60, who attain menopause. So, regular health checks up should be done to diagnose it early."

"Since we didn't know tumour type, so care was taken to prevent any damage to the tumour as in the case of cancerous tumour it can reoccur if its fluids are spilt in the body. The tumour was pressing liver, small intestine, large intestine, uterus and other parts."

Meanwhile, saying that the patient's body weight was 50 kg before the surgery and reduced to 30 kg after the tumour was removed, Dr Sampath Kumari, Director and Superintendent, Government Hospital for Women and Children said, in the medical literature no such case was reported from India.

"We searched in medical literature and found in 1922, 148.6kg, in 1963, 79.4kg in 2003, 50 kg and another 30 to 40 kg of tumour cases were reported from other countries. However, there was no such case found in India," said Dr Sampath Kumari.

Rathi said, "My stomach started swelling day by day. I had severe back pain as the tumour was heavy and I couldn't rest properly. I had constipation issues and also indigestion. The private hospital took a scan and referred me to this hospital."

The doctors said, the patient was scared of the surgery, and had been avoiding to meet the doctors, and finally one of her daughters forced her to the hospital.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com