A newborn girl underwent emergency surgery in Almaty after being born with a 2-kilogram tumor, weighing nearly half as much as the baby herself.
The serious condition was detected at 20 weeks of pregnancy, allowing surgeons at the Almaty Pediatric Emergency Medical Center to prepare for the highly complex procedure.
Although the tumor was not malignant at birth, doctors said there was a risk that it could develop into cancer within the first six months of life. For this reason, infants with such tumors undergo surgery as soon as possible.
A complex surgery
A team of neonatal intensive care specialists and surgeons traveled to the maternity hospital the day after the birth. The newborn was then transferred to the intensive care unit, and surgery to remove the tumor was performed the same day.
«This was one of the most complex surgeries we’ve ever performed. The tumor weighed two kilograms — almost the same as the baby’s weight. The surgery was successful. We performed the necessary plastic surgery immediately after the removal,» surgeon Samatbek Myrzakhmet said.
As he noted, the surgical scars will become barely visible over time and should not cause the child discomfort in the future.
The long-awaited girl
According to doctors, the baby’s tumor was discovered at 20 weeks of pregnancy, and the mother underwent a cesarean section at 34 weeks.
«I was admitted to the maternity hospital with abdominal pain. They immediately performed surgery, and the baby and I were transferred here. I am very grateful to the doctors for saving my daughter. I saw this enormous tumor,» Ayazhan, the newborn’s mother, said.
She added that the newborn is her fifth child and the first girl in the family.
