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A Weight Off The Chest

Imagine carrying a 10kg load on your chest everywhere you go. That was what 25-year-old Devesh Sharma had to live with, until our team at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram removed his massive chest tumour weighing 13.85kg in a challenging milestone surgery.

Devesh arrived at our hospital in a critical condition. His chest CT scan revealed a giant tumour larger than the size of a football occupying over 90% of his chest area, engulfing his heart and displacing both lungs. With his lungs functioning at only 10%, he was suffering from severe breathlessness. To make matters worse, he had a rare blood group of AB negative which would make the surgery even more challenging.

Dr Udgeath Dhir, Director and Head, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Fortis Hospital, Gurugram, said, “Due to the huge tumour size, it could not be removed through minimally invasive surgery. It took us 4 hours to open both sides of the patient’s chest and to cut the chest bone in between in order to remove the tumour. A lot of precision is required in such a high-risk surgical procedure.”

Thanks to Dr Dhir and his multi-disciplinary team, the surgery was a success. After 39 days in the Intensive Care Unit and a tracheostomy, Devesh is now on a steady road to recovery.

On this clinical achievement, Dr Ritu Garg, Zonal Director, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, said, “The team at Fortis Memorial Research Institute strives to save lives and achieve the best clinical outcomes. Every critical case is minutely assessed and the line of treatment is decided by a multi-disciplinary team of medical experts. This was a very rare and high-risk case, managed extremely well with tremendous efficiency and expertise of Dr Udgeath Dhir and his team. I applaud them for giving a new lease of life to the patient who chose to put his trust in our team.”