Indian doctors remove 800-gm tumour from Afghan toddler’s chest

The surgery, according to the doctors, was challenging as there was direct risk to the heart and the lung.

Indians doctors on Tuesday removed an 800-gram tumour from the chest of a three-year-old Afghan child, giving him a new lease of life.

Representative image

According to the doctors, who carried out the surgery on Imran yesterday, the the tumour had compressed the entire right lung of the child, who weighed just ten kilograms.

“Because of the tumour, which extended from the back vertebra to the chest ribs, his right lung had totally collapsed and it was creating pressure even on the heart,” said Dr Vipender Sabherwal, Director of Jeewan Hospital, located near the Ashram area.

The boy accompanied by his father had earlier visited several hospitals in Afghanistan but none of them took up the case due to the high risk, the doctors claimed.

When the doctors at the hospital here carried out investigations, the right side of the child’s right lung was simply not visible in X-Ray scans.

The surgery, according to the doctors, was challenging as there was direct risk to the heart and the lung.

“He could have bled to death on the table. This while the operation was going on blood was being transfused continuously,” Dr Sabherwal said.

“The miraculous part was that once the tumour was removed, the lung started expanding and after 13 hours it became normal,” Dr Mohit Mathur, a surgeon who was part of the operating team, said.

Imran is likely to be discharged in eight to ten days. The tumour has been sent for biopsy to ascertain if it was malignant, doctors said.