Cutting across the man-made borders of nations, doctors at Chennai’s Apollo Hospital saved a 50-year-old man’s life from Bangladesh by successfully removing his recurrent chest wall malignant tumour.

The hospital’s multi-disciplinary team following the removal, reconstructed the chest wall using synthetic materials and back muscle tissue.

It was in 2020 that the tumour appeared as a swelling in this patient’s chest wall. It was removed along the first and second rib on the left by a surgeon in Bangladesh but it came back as a much larger one within six months.

Having diagnosed the tumour to be enormous and widespread, the doctors tried to reduce it with chemotherapy, however, it did not succeed as it continued to grow. The Press release issued quoted Dr. Ajit Pai, Senior Consultant in Surgical Oncology and Robotic Surgery, Apollo, Chennai as stating that the scan of the affected part showed a tumour in the chest wall and neck with involvement of ribs, collar bone, sternum, important vessels in the chest and neck.

The team of Apollo surgeons led by Dr Ajit Pai performed a 14-hour surgery on February 25. Following this long operation, the tumour of the patient along with part of the sternum, three ribs on each side and collar bones was removed completely. With the help of preoperative planning and meticulous surgery the vital blood vessels of the patient were preserved.

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