Surgeons Remove World's Largest Kidney Tumour at AIIMS in New Delhi

In what is claimed to be the first such case in the world, Indian surgeons have removed a kidney tumour weighing 5.018 kg from a patient suffering from kidney cancer, along withthe dissection of the lungs.

"The patient's right kidney had bloated 35 times the normal size, making it the world's biggest ever kidney tumour on record as per the medical literature. The previous record was the removal of a 2.5kg (5.5lb) tumour by doctors at Sir Ganga Ram hospital," said Dr MD Ray, consultant at the department of surgical oncology, AIIMS.

The patient, 66-year-old KL Das, a resident of Darbhanga, who has been living in Delhi for the last 25 years, had approached doctors at AIIMS with a huge mass in the right side of the abdomen with discomfort and heaviness.

"The mass was rapidly progressing for the last two to three months  and the cancer had spread to the lungs. Surgery was the only option left before it spread to other parts of the body," said Dr Ray.

So, after a pre-anaesthetic check-up, Mr Das was operated on May 14 through a long incision of almost 25 cm from chest to abdomen. This procedure is called a thoracoabdominal incision in medical terms.

"The tumour was compressed to the inferior vena cava (IVC), which is the main vein of the body. The surrounding structure was stuck to the mass, so it had to be separated, and another important gland,d the adrenal gland, was spared.

"That gland is important for fluid electrolyte balance andmetabolismm of food. Also, it produces the sex hormone," explained Dr Ray.

Ultimately, the mass was removed along with the part of the lungs to which the cancer had spread. The chest and abdomen were closed separately, and the respiratory muscles were repaired.

"It was fa five-and-a-half-hour-longprocedure. After the operation, the patient was in the ICU for a day, after which he was shifted to a general ward. He is doing well. He will be dischargedtomorrowo",Dr Ray added.