May 7, 2018.
According to our colleagues at CNN, a woman had a 69 kilogram tumor removed during a high-risk surgery. It was an ovarian tumor.
A so-called “mucinous” ovarian tumor
Surgeons regularly have to deal with quite extraordinary situations. In Connecticut, the United States, a 38-year-old teacher presented to the hospital with a 60-kilogram tumor. Since November 2017, she had been gaining 5 kilos per week and did not understand why. She had actually developed an ovarian tumor called ” mucinous “. The size of this growth was life threatening.
In the end, it took 12 surgeons and five hours of intervention to overcome this tumor. ” During the operation, we removed this gigantic tumor that came from his left ovary », Commented to the press the doctor Vaagn Andikyan, the gynecologist who took care of the patient. ” We removed his left ovary, his left tube, and we removed the affected peritoneal tissue that was adhering to the ovary. “.
One of the biggest tumors in the world
This kind of ovarian tumor is known to grow in size considerably. It fills with a gelatinous substance produced by cancer cells. ” Mucinous ovarian tumors tend to be large », Said Vaagn Andikyan. ” But tumors of this size are extremely rare. I think it is one of the biggest tumors in the world. “
“Mucinous” tumors represent about 15% of ovarian tumors. What could have been fatal to him was not the tumor itself, as it had not spread outside the ovary, but the fact that its weight was compressing the blood vessels, which could have created blood clots. All the work of the surgeons has been to detach the tumor from the main blood vessels without endangering it. A feat!
Marine Rondot
Read also: Ovarian cancer: towards screening with a simple blood test?
