An enormous 759 cysts were successfully removed from the abdomen of a 29-year-old woman from Sriperumbudur by doctors at Saveetha Medical College and Hospital in Chennai.

The woman had come to the hospital with complaints of severe abdominal pain, difficulty in breathing and vomiting after eating food and drinking fluids. On examination, the doctors found four large cysts in her abdomen and inside the large cysts, there were multiple small cysts which the doctors call daughter cysts. So all together there were 759 cysts.

Speaking about the procedure, Dr Sundaravadanan, general surgeon, Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, said that they did a CT scan and ultrasound and found four large cysts. The size of the cysts ranged from 10x15 cm, 10x10cm, 10x7cm and 10x5 cm. They had occupied 50% of the abdomen space and were pressing all vital organs including liver, bile duct, left kidney, large intestine, urinary bladders and large blood vessels of the right lower limbs.

Dr Saveetha Rajesh, Director, Saveetha Medical College and Hospital said that the doctors had to plan the surgery precisely as any cyst bursting inside, would have turned fatal for the patient and also, the liquid spell would have caused reoccurrence of the cysts. The woman had undergone surgery for removing a cyst when she was seven years old. Although hydatid cysts are common but removing these many cysts from a patient is rare and not reported earlier.

Dr Kannan, Head of Surgical Gastroenterology, Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, said it is a hydatid disease and can affect any part of the organs and is very common disease caused by tapeworms. The tapeworms are found in intestine of dogs that enters the human body. Therefore people should properly wash vegetables including greens, before consumption. The tapeworms can enter the body through drinking water also, so safe and clean drinking water is a must. The disease is more endemic in Tamil Nadu, particularly in Madurai and in Andhra Pradesh. But now the incidents have reduced because of better hygiene practices among people.

This surgery was performed on 9th July 2019 and it took over four hours to remove the cysts. The patient was discharged on the eighth day and was being monitored regularly for reoccurrence.

Source: The New Indian Express