Man has ‘world’s largest’ brain tumour removed after mass grew for 20 YEARS

DOCTORS claim to have removed the “world’s largest” brain tumour from a man in India.

The patient was so scared of the prospect of an op, he let the mass grow for 20 years – by which time it weighed 11lbs – the same as a watermelon.

Sakthivel, from southern India, only went to see doctors earlier this month after the lump on his head grew over a 20-year period

Tumour grew for 20 years

Salthivel had lived with the growth on the back of his head since childhood.

The 31-year-old from Madurai, southern India chose to ignore the mass, because he couldn’t afford treatment.

He was also put off by the idea of surgery after his brother died following an operation.

But, when the tumour grew even bigger two years ago, Sakthivel began to struggle to move his neck, and it started to affect his day-to-day life.

He avoided going out, and distanced himself from friends.

10-hour op to remove giant mass

The 31-year-old finally sought help from doctors earlier this month.

They referred him to the Government Rajaji Hospital, where he had his op on May 16.

Dr Srisaravanan, the neurosurgeon who led the six-man team that operated on him, said the 5kg tumour was “almost equal in size to his head”.

The tumour was almost equal in size to his head. I had never come across such a big tumour in the head in my career of 15 years in neurosurgery

Dr Srisaravanan, Government Rajaji Hospital

The surgery, lasting 10 hours, required a 10-pint blood transfusion.

Dr Srisaravanan said: “The patient came to our hospital in the second week of May with a huge growth on his head and restrictions of neck movement.

“He has been having the tumour for around 20 years, but as his brother had died due to some other surgery, he feared to undergo surgery to remove the tumour.

“Also, he had social inhibitions due to the large swelling and didn’t want to meet people.

“Moreover, when he approached private hospitals, they asked Rs 5 lakhs – which was beyond his means – for the surgery to get the tumour removed.

“So he came to us.

“The tumour was almost equal in size to his head. I had never come across such a big tumour in the head in my career of 15 years in neurosurgery.”

The neurosurgeon added that Sakthivel is currently recovering and “doing fine”.

The 11lbs lump, is thought to be one of the world's biggest brain tumours, according to doctors treating the 31-year-old — The 11lbs lump, is thought to be one of the world’s biggest brain tumours, according to doctors treating the 31-year-old

The giant tumour was nearly as big as Sakthivel's head — The giant tumour was nearly as big as Sakthivel’s head

A six-strong team of doctors operated for ten hours to remove the huge tumour

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