Doctors at a private hospital in Gurugram in India's Haryana state have successfully removed the world's largest chest tumour from a 25-year-old male patient.
The tumour weighed 13.85kg and had led to an extremely debilitated condition with breathlessness and extreme unease in the chest.
The patient was not even able to sleep straight on his bed because of difficulties breathing for the past two to three months.
According to doctors at the Fortis Hospital, Gurugram, the largest chest tumour removed before this was in Gujarat state in 2015 weighing 9.5 kg.
"The patient was experiencing breathlessness and he was not able to lie flat but he initially didn't pay much heed. When these symptoms worsened, he consulted doctors. There is no obvious cause for it apart from the fact that his father had lung cancer, but he had no other risk factors," lead surgeon Dr Udgeath Dhir, the head of cardio-thoracic and vascular surgery (CTVS) at Fortis Hospital, Gurugram, said to Sputnik.
"For a tumour to grow this massive, the time period varies from patient to patient. But most likely it could have taken over six months," he added.
As his condition worsened his previous pulmonologist asked to get a CT Scan and they were shocked to find the huge tumour.
Dr Dhir also said that it was a benign tumour and was occupying the space of organs inside the chest cavity.
The tumour was taking up more than 90 percent of the chest area, engulfing the heart and displacing both lungs and because of this the lungs were functioning at only 10 percent.
After the diagnosis, the patient was referred to the Fortis Hospital, Gurugram where the surgery took place.
To make things even more difficult, the patient had a very rare blood group, AB negative.
The doctors added that in the case of patients with such a large tumour in the chest, administering anesthesia becomes critical as the heart is compressed by the weight of the tumour and might restrict the flow of blood.
To avoid this situation, the doctors had to prepare the patient under local anesthesia for an emergency cardiac pulmonary bypass.
"It is highly unlikely he will develop another tumour like this. We have removed it from the root. It was a thymolipoma and we have removed the thymus gland during the surgery. So, the chances of recurrence are very small," Dr Dhir said.
The patient was kept in ICU for 39 days and the doctors said that the patient is doing well, on minimal oxygen support, and is gradually recovering.