Rare surgery at KMC: Large Live Parasitic Tumor removed from heart

Mangaluru, Sep 10: KMC Hospitals, part of Manipal Health Enterprise, saved the life of a 20-year-old woman from a very unique and rare health condition. The patient was diagnosed to have Hydatid cyst which is a large live parasite in the heart. The tumor was surgically removed in an extremely risky surgery which needs the highest level of proficiency. The same was carried out by a team of extremely talented cardio thoracic surgeons, anesthetists and other staff who displayed sheer clinical excellence in overcoming the challenge.

Pavithra (Name changed) from Shivamoga was previously admitted in a Government hospital where she was diagnosed to have this very rare type of cyst in her left ventricle by Dr R L Kamath, HOD Cardiology KMC Mangaluru. The parasite responsible for the deadly consequences is usually transmitted from dogs to humans through the intestine and commonly occurs in the liver and lungs and can grow to a large size if untreated-but the existence of it in the chambers of the heart is ever rarer.

The patient was transferred to KMC Hospital, Ambedkar circle where the diagnosis was confirmed. One of her heart valves was also damaged by the cyst causing leakage of blood within the heart and congestion and high pressure in the lungs. She also had cysts in the liver, spleen and kidney and her general condition was very poor with difficulty in breathing and swelling of both legs.

She underwent high risk open heart surgery for removal of the tumour. The surgery was performed by connecting the patient to a heart lung machine. The large tumour was removed from the main chamber of the heart after cutting out the valve, which was later replaced with an artificial valve. The surgery was conducted by a team of doctors lead by Cardiac Surgeons Dr.A.G.Jayakrishnan, Dr.Balaraman and cardiac anesthetist Dr.Rammoorthy Rao.

This kind of high risk surgery has not been performed in the District before and is another “first” for KMC Hospital Mangaluru. The entire procedure was done free of cost to the patient under Vajpayee Arogya Shree scheme.

“KMC Hospitals has a great team of clinicians due to which very high levels of clinical outcomes are obtained making us one of the best healthcare units in the region. This is a perfect case that embellishes our strengths,” Dr.Anand Venugopal, Medical Superintendent of KMC Hospitals Mangaluru.