A man was left with a “buried penis” after a huge tumour caused his stomach to grow past his knees.
The 54-year-old was admitted to hospital with what appeared to be an abdominal pannus – a fold of excess skin and fat that hangs over the stomach, also known as an apron belly.
While a pannus often follows weight loss, the patient denied having lost any weight, and had a BMI of 56.3, putting him in the class 3 severely obese category.
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As a result of the overhanging, he had a “buried” penis, and reported difficulty with urinating, loss of erection, infertility, and an inability to see his penis.
A CAT scan revealed the shocking cause: a huge mass, which contained only a small amount of fat tissue, and was largely made up of fibrous connective tissue, as reported by Need To Know.
The man was put under general anaesthesia while doctors operated to remove the mass, which was found to be a tumour weighing a whopping 35kg (5st 7lbs).
Following the removal, the patient’s BMI dropped immediately to 43.9, and he remained in hospital for six days for recovery.
Pathology reports found he had been suffering from an abdominal aggressive fibromatosis (also known as a desmoid tumour) – a rare, slow-growing tumour in connective tissue.
Clinical presentation 5 months after surgery (Afrom the front); (Bfrom the side). (Picture: Jam Press)
The patient remained under care, receiving check-ups for five months following the surgery, but recovered well.
The case was shared recently in a medical journal, following the patient’s treatment in Skopje, North Macedonia.
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Removed specimen with a measured weight of 35 kg. (Picture: Jam Press)
