Media Release

Mangaluru, Feb 17: KMC Hospital in the city successfully removed a pre-cancerous tumor from the liver to save life of 62 year old lady Kalyani and thus giving a new lease of life and ending four years of suffering and agony. The surgery was performed by Dr Satyanarayana N, Gastrointestinal, Hepatobiliary surgeon, KMC Hospital, here. She was also treated by Dr Suresh Shenoy gastroenterologist of the same hospital.

Kalyani who hails from Kerala was suffering from repeated bouts of fever and jaundice for the past 4 years. Despite hospitalization at several hospitals her condition only deteriorated. She was then brought to KMC Hospital with a septic cholangitis, a condition in which jaundice worsens leading to the spread of bacteria in the blood stream. CT scan at KMC Hospital revealed a tumor which was arising from the liver entering into the bile duct causing block in the flow of bile. When the bile duct is blocked, the liver cannot excrete bile and the bile backs up into the bloodstream.

Initially in a bid to give temporary relief to the patient an endoscopic procedure called endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography /ERCP that can be used to release the obstruction to the flow of bile was performed.

Speaking on the occasion Dr Satyanarayana N said, “The patient had already entered a very complicated stage due to the prolonged symptoms and bacteria in blood, it required us to be extremely cautious. The operation that lasted for over five hours was successful and we managed to remove the tumor along with a minor portion of the liver. The operation was smooth and the recovery of the patient was good. It was a very rare kind of tumor known as mucinous type biliary cystadenoma which is also a rare cause of jaundice.”

He also added, “The tumor had grown like tree roots down into the bile ducts causing complete obstruction to bile flow. This presentation is unique and extremely rare and difficult to diagnose. Timely surgery alone can save the life of a patient.”

Also present Dr Anand Venugopal, medical superintendent, KMC Hospitals Mangaluru, said, “Liver and pancreatic tumors if detected early can be effectively treated by surgical resection. Fortunately KMC Hospital is always the fore runner when it comes to having world class state of the art technology, infrastructure and a team of extremely talented and experienced doctors. We have the best of facilities to undertake major and rare surgeries and a highly competent surgical gastroenterology team in place which made this surgery very smooth.”