Doctors remove 1.8kg tumour from patient’s liver

NAGPUR: A 46-year-old man from Kolgaon, suffering from a rare condition in the liver, was treated successfully at Orange City Hospital and Research Institute (OCHRI).
“The patient had developed a large 22cm lump in his upper abdomen and a small 10cm lump in the right side of his liver. Due to this, the platelet count, which should range over a lakh, had gone down to 60,000,” said surgical gastroenterologist Dr Yogesh Bang. Dr Bang, along with liver transplant surgeon Dr Rahul Saxena conducted the surgery last Tuesday.

“This was a rare case because liver hemangioma (tumour formed by tangle of blood vessels) is usually found in females. Moreover, the decreased platelet count was a cause of worry. Had the patient experienced a bump in his stomach, the tumor would have ruptured, leading to death due to bleeding,” Dr Bang said.

The patient had come to OCHRI after experiencing abdominal pain, gum bleeding, early satiety and lump in abdomen for three months. The high-risk surgery for hepatic resection (removal of the liver) with removal of both hemangiomas lasted for five hours and the weight of the lump removed was 1.8 kg. During surgery, Dr Sweety Pasari provided anaesthesia and sister Nisha assisted the doctors.

Dr Bang said, “Liver hemangioma has overall incidence of less than 15% and more common in females. They are mostly asymptomatic. However, hemangioma with thrombocytopenia (vascular tumour leading to decreased platelet counts), also known as Kabasach-Merritt syndrome, is very rare.”

Dr Devayani Buche and Dr Vina Bang, physicians, looked after the pre & post-operative management of the patient and he was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday (May 29).