At Delhi's Ganga Ram Hospital, doctors save mucormycosis patient's life by removing kidney, portion of lung
In a statement, the hospital said that the operation was a complicated procedure, and went on for six hours.
Officials at Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital informed on Monday that, in a recent operation, a team of multidisciplinary doctors saved the life of a 34-year-old patient by performing a surgery to remove a kidney, as well as a portion of his left lung, both of which, they said, were infected with mucormycosis, a complication found in several patients who recovered from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
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Three doctors performed the operation in this case which, hospital authorities claimed, was being reported in medical literature as the “first case in the world happening after Covid-19 infection” which involved a kidney, lung and sinus.
“The patient, who is from Ghaziabad, was brought here with breathing difficulties, blood in sputum and high-grade fever. After checking, it was found that the mucor, besides penetrating the patient’s nasal cavity, had also spread to his right kidney and the left lung,” the premier hospital noted in a statement, which further said that the kidney, and a portion of the lung, were both severely damaged.
“As a result, we feared further spread. Hence an emergency removal of the infected areas was planned,” it added.
Describing the surgery as a complicated procedure which went on for six hours, the statement noted that the patient was successfully operated upon and has since been discharged. It identified Dr Sabyasachi Bal as the one who removed the portion of the left lung, while Dr Manu Gupta worked on the right kidney. Dr Varun Rai, meanwhile, performed the sinus surgery, it said.
Commonly known as black fungus, mucormycosis is more commonly found among people with lowered immunity due to issues such as Covid-19, diabetes, kidney disease, liver or cardiac related disorders or due to age-related problems.
The risk of contracting black fungus is particularly high for patients who are immune-compromised, especially those being treated for Covid-19 with steroids.
(With PTI inputs)