A woman has had an enormous tumour weighing 30kg, which made her look like she was pregnant, removed.
The 61-year-old went into hospital with moderate weakness, anaemia, and a massively enlarged abdomen.
Medics suspected she had ascites – a build-up of fluid in the abdomen and around the intestines.
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She was given a CT scan, which revealed a huge tumour in her right ovary measuring 42cm by 43 cm, according to estimates.
It turned out that the mass had first been detected 10 years ago.
The tumour was just 4cm long at the time, but medics in Moscow, Russia, didn’t give her surgery because they thought it would regress as her reproductive functions declined.
However, a couple of years later, it had grown to 7cm long.
Surgery was planned but kept being cancelled over the years for various reasons.
Obstetrician-gynaecologist Alexey Danilov said: “Taking into account the patient’s history, clinical presentation, and deteriorating condition, we faced a radical surgical procedure.
“We performed a laparotomy, dissected the anterior abdominal wall, removed the giant tumour from the right ovary, and performed a hysterectomy with an adnexectomy.
“The volume of the mass was 30 litres, and the surgery lasted about two hours.”
The tumour was examined and was found to be a benign mucinous cystadenoma.
It likely formed because of hormonal imbalances during the patient’s pre-menopause and menopause.
She’s now been discharged weighing 40kg after being admitted weighing 70kg.
She now faces rehabilitation, as her leg and thigh muscles had wasted away due to months of lying on her side.
She’d practically lost the ability to walk and stand. However, she’s reported to be making a slow-but-sure recovery.
A relapse isn’t expected, as her uterus has been removed.
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