- Successful operation for stage-3 invasive thymic cancer; 12-year-old is the youngest patient ever recorded in a medical journal, and this 11-year-old patient holds a world record.
- After undergoing cancer surgery 6 months ago and 25 cycles of radiation therapy, the child started school this year and also appeared for exams.
- This tumor (invasive thymoma) usually occurs in people between 40 and 60 years of age.
- The tumor had involved the heart, pericardium, phrenic nerve, aorta, main pulmonary artery (MPA), left atrium, and lung.
- Health Minister Shri Shyam Bihari Jaiswal congratulated the entire team.
The Department of Heart, Chest and Vascular Surgery at Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial Hospital, Chhattisgarh’s largest government hospital affiliated with Pt. Nehru Medical College, has achieved another major milestone, successfully completing a complex and impossible operation. The department’s team has established a new global record by successfully operating on an 11-year-old boy with an extremely rare stage-3 invasive thymic cancer (type-B thymoma) lodged in his heart.
The special thing about this is that the youngest patient with this type of cancer recorded in medical journals so far is 12 years old, whereas in the state, an 11-year-old child was diagnosed with the disease and underwent a successful operation. This complex surgery was performed by Dr. Krishnakant Sahu, Head of the Department of Heart, Chest and Vascular Surgery at Ambedkar Hospital, and his team.
Six months after the operation, the child is completely healthy and this year he started going to school again and also appeared for the class 6th examination.
According to the doctors, this tumor is usually found in people between 40 to 60 years of age and it is very rare to find it in children. This tumor was stuck to the heart, pericardium, phrenic nerve, aorta, main pulmonary artery, left atrium and lung. In such cases, complete removal of the tumor (R0 resection) is considered almost impossible, but with the help of the heart-lung machine available in the hospital, this was possible.
The operation was performed using a dual approach technique.
Because the tumor was large and adherent to multiple organs, a dual approach technique was used to remove it. This involved making incisions in both the patient’s sternum (chest bone) and ribs, medically known as sternotomy and thoracectomy.
In addition to the primary tumor, three other satellite tumors extending into the pleural cavity of the lung were also carefully removed to prevent future recurrence. The removed tumors measured approximately 12 x 8 centimeters and weighed approximately 400 grams.
The child, a sixth-grade student from Champa, had been suffering from chest pain, heaviness, and shortness of breath for
about six months. Investigations revealed a large tumor in his chest, which was attached to the heart and major arteries. After several hospitals in the state refused surgery, the patient was referred to Ambedkar Hospital.
After reviewing the CT scan, Dr. Krishnakant Sahu informed the family that the operation was extremely risky and could endanger the patient’s life or require aborting the procedure. Despite this, the family agreed, and the team decided to proceed with the surgery.
A heart-lung machine was kept ready for any emergency during the four-hour surgery
. The heart membrane, phrenic nerve, and part of the lung were also removed during the surgery, which lasted approximately four hours. The left atrium of the heart was also repaired because the tumor was stuck to the left atrium. The patient required four units of blood during the operation.
Following surgery, the tumor sample was sent to Dr. Rabia Parveen Siddiqui, Head of the Department of Pathology, for biopsy, where it was diagnosed as invasive thymic carcinoma (Type B thymoma, stage 3). The patient was then given 25 cycles of radiation therapy by the oncology department.
Now completely healthy,
nearly six months after the surgery and treatment, the child is completely healthy and has returned to school two months ago. He also took his sixth-grade exams this year. This rare case was presented at the National Cancer Surgery Conference, where it received the Best Paper Award. The department is now preparing to publish it in an international medical journal.
The Department of Heart, Chest and Vascular Surgery at Ambedkar Hospital is the
leading center for chest, lung, and mediastinal cancer surgery in Chhattisgarh and neighboring states. More than 95 percent of such surgeries in the state are performed in this department.
Health Minister Shri Shyam Bihari Jaiswal has congratulated the entire team of the Medical College and associated hospital for this success.
Dr. Vivek Chaudhary, Dean of Pt. Nehru Medical College, said that this surgery is a major achievement. Even the most complex surgeries are being successfully performed at the Ambedkar Hospital, affiliated with the medical college, and patients in the state no longer need to travel to major cities for such surgeries.
Ambedkar Hospital Superintendent Dr. Santosh Sonkar said that the team of Heart, Chest and Vascular Surgery Department has once again proved the capability of the hospital by successfully performing this extremely difficult and rare operation.