759 cysts removed from woman's abdomen in Chennai hospital

Doctors in Saveetha Hospitals recently removed 759 cysts from the stomach of a 29-year-old woman. The cysts covered 50% of space in her abdominal cavity. An ultrasound scan showed that the woman had four very large cysts. These cysts were removed through a complicated surgery.

Chennai: In a rare surgery, surgeons at Saveetha Medical College and Hospitals have removed a whopping 759 cysts from the abdomen of a 29-year-old female patient who was suffering from peritoneal hydatid disease, a senior doctor said.

The doctors said the disease is largely prevalent in areas where there is a concentration of stray dogs and sheep and infects humans due to contaminated water and lack of personal hygiene.

Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, B.S. Sundaravadanan, professor, General Surgery, said a female patient had come to the hospital with severe abdominal pain and distension for over three months.

"The patient was not able to take normal food. She used to vomit soon after having food. Ultrasound of the abdomen revealed multiple cystic lesions in the peritoneal and the CT scan showed four very big cysts occupying about 50 per cent of the abdominal cavity," Sundaravadanan said.

The big mother cysts had numerous daughter cysts suggesting peritoneal hydatid disease.

He said the cysts were adherent/supported by liver, portal vein, bile duct, left kidney, large intestine, urinary bladder, large vessels of the right lower limb.

This made the surgery a complex one, as cysts containing very dangerous fluids should be taken out without puncturing them. The fluid inside the cyst could be a killer, doctors said.

According to the doctors, each large cyst was opened individually and the different size daughter cyst was removed carefully without spillage. The cyst wall was removed completely from the surrounding structures very carefully.

"The total count of the daughter cysts in all he four cysts put together was at a staggering 759. This is probably one of the rarest of the occurrences in medical history. Hydatid disease is endemic in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Liver is the most common sight of Hydatid cyst," Saveetha Rajesh, Director, Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, said.

According to the doctors, the operation took about four-and-a-half hours and the patient was discharged eight days after that with a prescription to take a medicine for preventing a relapse.

The doctors added that proper hygiene of domestic pets like dogs should be maintained while de-worming of pets periodically is a must.