The 52-year-old woman, who asked to remain anonymous, had complained about her weight ballooning, unaware of the giant growth on her ovary.
By the time she was able to undergo a gruelling operation to remove it – which took three and a half hours – the tumour had grown to make up 45% of the woman’s body weight.
Dr Arun Prasad, who led the surgery on the woman at the private Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Delhi, India, said he was left ‘shell-shocked’ by the tumour.
The doctor said he had never seen a case like it in his 30-year medical career. Speaking after carrying out the operation on Saturday, Dr Prasad said: ‘I have not witnessed anything like this ever before during my profession – in over three decades of experience.
‘We should consider it as a miracle that the woman is recuperating well after being operated on for over 180 minutes.’ The woman, who was admitted to hospital for surgery as Covid-19 cases continue to soar in India, had swelled to a massive 106 kg (almost 17 stone) before her operation.
But almost half of this weight was accounted for by the weight of the huge, benign tumour pressing on her ovary – which could have caused her ovary to explode if left untreated.
The patient had complained of not being able to walk as her feet swelled. She had also begun to suffer from severe anaemia which saw her haemoglobin drop – proving a daunting challenge for the team of surgeons during the operation.
The woman had to undergo a blood transfusion before doctors were able to operate. Dr Prasad said: ‘With a low level of haemoglobin, it was a major task for the doctors. However, we did our best, and eventually succeeded.’
Another doctor involved in the surgery, Abhishek Tiwari, has said he is ‘delighted’ that the patient has quickly begun to recover.
He said: ‘She is lucky that the organs didn’t fail. Otherwise, such pressure could have proved fatal for the patient.’ And Dr Prasad has praised his team of surgeons for doing a ‘wonderful’ job.
He said: ‘I see it as an incredible achievement the way the operation has been done. ‘There was no room for error. The team put in commendable efforts, to say the least.’ The patient is set to be discharged today, just the day after her surgery, in what Dr Prasad branded as a ‘miracle’.
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