Doctors at Delhi's Indraprastha Apollo Hospital have performed life-saving surgery on a two-day-old baby to remove a tumour from its heart, which was detected while it was still in the womb. The growth was an incredibly rare form of tumour known as intrapericardial teratoma.
"The tumour was extremely big and it was growing excessively and stressing on the heart. The tumour was occupying almost the right chest. When we delivered the baby, he was unable to breathe properly. He was immediately put on the ventilator and the next day he was sent for surgery," Dr Marwah said.
He added that in his 20 years as a pediatric cardiologist, he has never seen such a large tumour attached to the heart of a foetus."
"Teratomas are basically undifferentiated masses. This structure that was found in the baby had everything like pieces of hair, some calcium deposits which was suggestive of teeth. It was undifferentiated to the extent that we do not know if it could have turned malignant later," Dr Marwah explained.
He also said that because of the tumour the baby's heart is smaller than normal – despite this it is working well.
"The child is doing fine right now. The heart is underdeveloped but it's coping well. We are closely monitoring the baby and his heart. We will follow with tumour markers within every two-three weeks to check if the tumour reoccurs," he added.