Indian doctors perform first surgical removal of rare heart tumor

BANGALORE: Doctors in southern India said Thursday they had performed the first known surgical removal of an extremely rare heart tumour that finds no mention in standard medical text books.   

A team of surgeons in Bangalore also reconstructed the heart of the 22-year-old patient, who survived the operation performed late last month, said N.S. Devananda, consultant cardiovascular surgeon for Wockhardt Hospitals.   

Prabhu Ram, a plumber, had a Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumour -- a potentially deadly cancerous growth -- arising from both the upper chambers of the heart, which blocked the flow of blood into the organ and the right lung.   

"It is an extremely rare case as such tumours more commonly occur in the brain and the chest walls," Devananda told a press conference in Bangalore.   

"There are very few similar cases reported in medical literature worldwide," he said, calling it the first attempt to surgically remove such a tumour.   

After the tumour, measuring 8x10x12 centimetres, was removed, doctors rebuilt the upper chambers of the heart with the outer covering of the organ, creating bag-like receptacles to channel blood returning from the lungs into the ventricles, the heart's main pumping chambers.   

"His newly constructed heart functions well," said Murali Manohar, a consultant cardiac surgeon at Wockhardt Hospitals.   
Lloyd Nazareth, head of the healthcare company, said such operations may open up possibilities for patients who have given up hope.   

"Since this is a rare surgical experience, it may serve as an example to other doctors who may come across a similar situation," he said.   

Ram, the patient, had perhaps two days to live when he was operated on, doctors said -- but added they could not rule out a return of the tumour.   

"It's because of the doctors that I have survived," Ram, who hails from the northern Indian desert state of Rajasthan, said at the news conference. "It's them that I thank, not god."