Doctors at Bengaluru’s Sagar Hospitals successfully operated on a 30-year-old Iraqi national and removed a tumour the size of a tennis ball that had grown in her heart.
Noor Hussain, who is a microbiologist in her home country, had lived with the life-threatening condition for more than a decade. She had flown down to Bengaluru for medical help amidst the Covid curbs. The six-hour surgery was conducted on January 17, a week after Hussain landed in Bengaluru.
“A large tumour in the heart’s chambers is rare”, said Dr Ashwini Kumar Pasarad, head of cardiac surgery, Sagar hospitals, who operated on the woman. He said that the tumour removed from Hussain’s heart weighed over 200 grams — almost 80% of a normal heart (250-300 grams).
The cause of the tumour is said to be either congenital (growing since birth) or due to possible exposure to radiation.
“Besides the usual difficulties, the surgery was also challenging since there was no clear demarcation between the tumour and the heart muscles. A portion of the heart had to be reconstructed during the procedure”, said Dr Pasarad.
“If the tumour wasn’t removed, Hussain would have suffered congestive cardiac failure, where the heart is unable to pump the normal quantity of blood and gets congested. She would have also suffered sudden cardiac death due to the irregular rhythm of the heart,” he added.
Noor Hussain had made the trip to Bengaluru with her father and a friend, the latter of whom is a pharmacist who had studied in Bengaluru. The successful surgery is a second shot at life for Hussain, as she had almost given up hope.
Mohammed Yusuf, the pharmacist who accompanied Hussain to Bengaluru, said the tumour was detected in 2011 and it was said to be benign. In 2020, almost 10 years later, Hussain suffered breathlessness during the initiative phase of the pandemic, but she tested negative for Covid-19.
“She visited multiple hospitals. In Turkey she was told surgery was risky and inoperable. The family then decided to seek help in Bengaluru,” Yusuf said. He said that the Indian embassy in Iraq helped immensely and the visa was processed in two days.
Hussain was discharged on Tuesday.
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