A 7-year-old boy who appears to have a "chicken chest" actually hides a huge tumor! Xinhua experts complete a 5-hour bomb disposal surgery | Tumor | Xinhua
A 7-year-old boy named Lele had a protruding chest and mistakenly thought it was a "chicken chest", but in reality, he concealed a huge tumor that occupied half of his chest, like a "bomb", close to the heart and large blood vessels, posing a life-threatening danger at any time. Lu Yanan, the director of the Pediatric Heart Center at Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, skillfully removed a tumor weighing up to 1 kilogram in just 5 hours. Xiao Lele has recently recovered and been discharged from the hospital.
The boy's "chicken chest" turned out to be a huge tumor
The boy's "chicken chest" turned out to be a huge tumor
Not long ago, Lele's parents found that his chest bulge was very obvious. They sought medical attention locally and initially suspected it to be a "chicken breast". They can continue to observe or wait for surgery. However, they still have some doubts in their hearts, why are children always so thin that they can't gain weight no matter how they eat?
So they continued to seek medical attention with Lele, and a CT scan revealed a very large tumor in Lele's chest, occupying almost half of the chest space. Lele's parents immediately panicked and took Lele to seek medical treatment everywhere.
However, doctors from multiple hospitals have told Lele's parents that the tumor is too large and can cause illness at any time, requiring excision; But at the same time, the tumor is tightly attached to the heart and large blood vessels, in a "minefield". When removing the tumor, it is very easy to have large blood vessels or heart rupture. Once the heart and large blood vessels are injured, it will endanger life, and the surgical difficulty is very high, which can be said to be almost impossible to operate.
The condition is hidden, and the surgery is dangerous, but one must take risks
It is said that Lu Yanan is a top expert in the field of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery in China, with rich surgical experience in pediatric heart and general chest surgery. Lele's parents came to the Children's Heart Center of Xinhua Hospital for consultation.
After admission, Lele quickly improved chest enhanced CT and MRI examinations, and everyone was shocked: a huge tumor compressed and pushed against large blood vessels such as the heart, trachea, aorta, vena cava, and pulmonary vein, causing obvious tracheal stenosis and pericardial effusion, and the condition was on the brink of death. Surgical resection is the only option.
The surgery is dangerous but risky. Lu Yanan admitted to Lele's parents that there may be various major risks during the surgery, but the entire expert team has prepared contingency plans and can handle them in a timely manner. This gives parents tremendous confidence.
Clever hand bomb disposal+precise anesthesia, complete the challenge in 5 hours
Lele's tumor resection surgery also poses a huge challenge, which is the narrowing of the trachea caused by tumor compression, especially when the right main bronchus approaches occlusion, which is almost one of the biggest risks of surgical anesthesia. Director Du Yi's team from the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine had a detailed understanding of Lele's condition before surgery, and developed a very detailed anesthesia plan, taking into account various possible anesthesia risks and corresponding treatment plans. During surgery, closely cooperate with the surgical team to ensure the smooth progress of the surgery.
As expected before the surgery, after entering the chest cavity, the doctor first saw a huge tumor that adhered to the lungs on both sides and the deep heart. But the surgical team still decided to separate the tumor as quickly as possible while ensuring safety, in order to reduce the risk of surgical trauma to the child. In the end, after 5 hours, the tumor was completely removed as much as possible, and the weight of the removed tumor specimen exceeded 1 kilogram.
Fortunately, the pathological result of Lele tumor is benign. Within 24 hours after surgery, he was weaned off the ventilator and successfully transferred from the intensive care unit to a regular ward. After treatment, he quickly recovered and was discharged from the hospital.
Data shows that although the incidence rate of thoracic tumors in children is not high, it is not rare, and the onset is often hidden, which is difficult to detect early. Most of them are found when chest X-ray examination is carried out after symptoms such as chest tightness, chest pain, emaciation, cough, dysphagia, etc. appear. Some early detected cases are often due to other reasons, such as respiratory infections or the discovery of space occupying lesions in the chest during physical examinations.
Early detection is difficult, with the vast majority having a good prognosis
