BACK IN 2008: ONLY SURGERY SCARS REMAIN OF WHAT WAS ONCE A HUGE TUMOR

A unique operation has been performed in Vilnius in 2008 that saved a baby from suffocation. A huge tumor in the neck has affected the respiratory tract and even deformed one ear of the child.  Plastic surgeons Renaldas Vaičiūnas and Dainius Balčiūnas have successfully removed an extremely rare benign tumor called teratoma, writes “Lietuvos Rytas”.

The size of the tumor was almost a quarter of the weight of the baby. There has been only 152 cases of babies with neck teratoma in a globe.

On June the 13th 2008, a four-day-old child was operated at the Vilnius University Children Hospital. The baby was treated for about one and a half months in an intensive care and reanimation after the surgery.

Skin tissues have been formed after the tumor has been removed and it had to be sewn as a canvas. Plastic surgeons have been trying to shape the baby’s new facial features and restore one ear.

Parents brought a healthy baby back home on Thursday. Medics have reassured parents that teratoma will not affect mental or physical development of the child.

According to the surgeon R. Vaičiūnas, “if not for the scars on the neck, no one could even suspect that a huge tumor was once severely affecting the child.” It is believed that in 2-3 years the scars should disappear.

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