Delhi surgeons remove football-sized tumour from Russian man’s chest

Only about 5% of such tumours turn cancerous later on, say doctors.

In a four-hour-long surgery, a football-sized tumour weighing 3.2kg was removed from the chest cavity of a Russian man in a city hospital earlier this month.

Cancer surgeons at Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj performed what they call a ‘very risky’ surgery that required meticulous planning and surgical precision to avoid any complications as the tumour was touching main vessels that supplied blood to the heart and other vital organs.

The risk of death was so high that surgeons in Russia had to abort the surgery midway, fearing the procedure could prove fatal for the 39-year-old Emil Abdullaev.

“He was also turned down by several hospitals in India because of the location and size of tumour,” says Dr Sabyasachi Bal, director, thoracic onco surgery at Fortis, who operated upon him.

Abdullaev was suffering for the past five years from breathlessness and immense discomfort, following which he underwent a series of tests.

The tests revealed that a giant tumor was gradually growing in his chest cavity, exerting tremendous pressure on his right lung.

The tumour originated from the lining of the chest wall called the pleura. Pleural tumours are found in the pleural space, the cavity between the lungs and chest wall that contains lubricating pleural fluid.

There is always a risk of complication later on if the tumour is not excised completely, and also a possibility that affected lung may not regain full functionality.

“It is a complicated surgery, no doubt, but we are 100% sure of having taken out the entire tumour. He is doing fine and should be able to lead a normal life,” said Dr Bal.

Abdullaev was admitted at Fortis on July 31, and operated on August 1. He was discharged on August 8.