THIS is the jaw-dropping moment doctors removed 759 cysts from a woman’s stomach.
The 29-year-old, from India, had complained about severe abdominal pain for the last three months and would vomit whenever she tried to eat.
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She was admitted to Saveetha Medical College and Hospitals, Thandalam, where doctors carried out tests that revealed multiple cystic lesions.
They then did a CT scan which showed four large cysts were taking up about half of her abdominal cavity and inside there were numerous smaller cysts, known as daughter cysts.
It led them to diagnose her with multiple peritoneal hydatid disease – a parasitic infection caused by canine tapeworms.
Rare disease
Hydatid disease is carried by dogs and foxes, with the tapeworm tending to live in an animal for about one year.
Infected dogs and foxes excrete tapeworm eggs in their faeces and if ingested this can cause infection in sheep or humans.
Once ingested, the eggs hatch in to larvae, which can form cysts.
They are most commonly found in the liver, but may form in other organs in the body including the lungs, heart, brain and bone.
‘Staggering’
Dr Saveetha Rajesh, Director, Saveetha Medial College and Hospital, said: “The total count of the daughter cysts in all the four cysts put together was at a staggering 759.
“This is probably one of the rarest of the occurrences in the medical history and also hydatid disease is endemic in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.”
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Footage shows doctors removing cysts the size of small to medium sized marbles using a spoon.
It was a challenging operation for the doctors as the cysts were connected to her liver, portal vein, bile duct, left kidney, large intestine, urinary bladder, large vessels of the right lower limb.
Challenging op
Dr Sundaravadanan, general surgeon at the hospital, said: “Rupture of the cysts would have lead to the immediate shock and morbidity of patient increasing the challenge for the surgeons and anaesthetists.
“After the surgery the patient was meticulously monitored and was stable during the post-operative period.
“Peritoneal Hydatid disease is very rare – the aetiology is completely attributed to ingestion of contaminated food and water.
“Many of these people will be experiencing severe clinical syndromes which are life-threatening if left untreated.”
Each large cyst were opened individually and the different sizes of daughter cyst were removed carefully without spillage taking adequate precautions and cyst wall was removed completely from surrounding structures with care.
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