Mangaluru: Woman gets new lease of life with removal of pre-cancerous tumor

Mangaluru, Feb 16: KMC Hospital, Mangaluru, successfully removed a pre-cancerous tumor from the liver to save life of 62-year-old lady Kalyani and thus giving a new lease of life and ending four years of suffering and agony.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Satyanarayana N, Gastrointestinal, Hepatobiliary Surgeon, KMC Hospital Mangaluru, and she was also treated by Dr. Suresh Shenoy Gastroenterologist KMC Hospital Mangaluru.

Kalyani who hails from Kerala was suffering from repeated bouts of fever and jaundice from the past 4 years. Despite hospitalization in several hospitals her condition was only deteriorating. She was then brought to KMC Hospital in a septic cholangitis, a condition in which jaundice worsens leading to the spread of bacteria in the blood stream.

CT scan at KMC Hospital revealed a tumor which was arising from liver entering into the bile duct causing block in the flow of bile. When the bile duct is blocked, the liver cannot excrete bile and the bile backs up into the bloodstream.

Initially in a bid to give temporary relief to the patient a endoscopic procedure called Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography /ERCP that can be used to release the obstruction to the flow of bile.

Speaking on the occasion Dr. Satyanarayana N, Gastrointestinal & Hepatobiliary Surgeon, KMC Hospital Mangaluru said, “The patient had already entered a very complicated stage due to the prolonged symptoms & bacteria in blood, it required us to be extremely cautious.

The operation that lasted for over five hours was successful and we managed to remove the tumor along with a minor portion of the liver. The operation was smooth and the recovery of the patient was good. It was a very rare kind of a tumor known as mucinous type biliary cystadenoma which is also a rare cause of jaundice”

He also added “The tumor had grown like tree roots down into the bile ducts causing complete obstruction to bile flow. This presentation is unique and extremely rare and difficult to diagnose. Timely surgery alone can save the life of a patient.”

Also present Dr Anand Venugopal, Medical Superintendent, KMC Hospitals Mangaluru, said “Liver and pancreatic tumors if detected early can be effectively treated by surgical resection. Fortunately KMC Hospital is always the front runner when it comes to having world class state of the art technology, infrastructure and team of extremely talented and experienced doctors. We have the best of the facilities to undertake major and rare surgeries and a highly competent surgical gastroenterology team in place which made this surgery very smooth.”