Woman's 'fat belly' was blamed on her overeating... but turned out to be a 17lb tumour
Thai woman Ratchanaporn, 31, lived with a massive ovarian cyst growing inside her foe years on end, utterly unaware of its existence.
She and her family assumed that she was simply overweight due to her eating habits, until she began struggling to breathe.
After being taken to Satun Hospital, southern Thailand, by her mother, doctors quickly found a massive 30cm-wide cyst that was pressing on her internal organs.
Ratchanaporn's mother said: 'My baby was experiencing tightness, difficulty breathing, and bulging eyes. Her stomach looked like she was pregnant with twins.
'She'd had a swollen belly for so long, but we thought it was because she ate too much. We never imagined it was something this serious.'
It took doctors six hours to take out the massive tumour, due to its size and the complexity of the operation,
But the operation, carried out on 31 July, appeared to be a success. The 17lb mass was taken out, along with other tissue samples for further testing.
Before the surgery, Ratchanaporn reportedly weighed 86kg. After the cysta was removed, she weighed 75kg and said she felt far lighter and more comfortable.
Though Ratachanporn's cyst was large, it was dwarfed by a cyst removed from a 24-year-old woman that weighed five stone.
The unnamed woman, from Mexico, noticed she was gaining weight despite being on a diet.
But scans later revealed she was suffering from an ovarian cyst which grew ferociously over 11 months.
By the time of surgery it had a density of five stone and put her at risk of heart failure as it crushed her internal organs, meaning she had problems walking, breathing and eating.
Dr. Erik Hanson Viana at Mexico's General Hospital performed pioneering surgery to remove the cyst - believed to be the biggest-ever removed whole.
Six months later, the patient has regained mobility and returned to a normal life.
Dr. Hanson, from Mexico City, said: 'This is the biggest cyst I have operated on, it was so large that it took up 95% of the patient's abdomen. It's really rare to operate on a cyst this big, it measured half a metre in diameter and the circumference was 157 cm.
'From all the research I've found, this is the largest ovarian cyst ever to be removed whole without draining it first or spilling it.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
11 minutes ago
- BBC News
Scunthorpe General Hospital patient died after power cut during surgery
A patient died following a "sudden failure of electrical power" during heart surgery, a coroner's report has Dye, 77, was undergoing a procedure at Scunthorpe General Hospital on 7 September to treat cardiac disease when the outage, which lasted 10 minutes, inquest into her death found it was likely she would have survived but for the loss of Lincolnshire senior coroner Paul Smith sent a Prevention of Future Deaths (POFD) report to NHS England, which the BBC has approached for comment. Ms Dye died as a result of a tear in the iatrogenic artery, the inquest into her death was loss of power happened when medical staff were about to deploy cardiac stents, with a "limited opportunity to provide the necessary remedial treatment", the inquest Emergency Power Off (EPO) circuit was then activated, which overrode the back up electrical supply and staff had to wait for an engineer to reset the circuit before gaining power was regained after 10 minutes when the stenting procedure was then complete but Mrs Dye failed to recover and was confirmed clear cause for the loss of power was identified, the inquest found. 'Critical factor' In his report, Mr Smith said: "Had staff been aware of the exact cause of the loss of power on this occasion and had they had the opportunity to reset the circuit without the need to await the arrival of an engineer, who in turn had to attend a separate plant room, the downtime would likely have been significantly reduced."The coroner noted that "the delay whilst power was restored was a critical factor in this death".The report has been sent to NHS England "inviting a review" into the guidance in relation to operating Emergency Power Off (EPO) circuit controls. Mr Smith also asked if there was a need for any consequential said he had "received evidence of a small number of accidental activations of EPO circuits nationally over a 12-month period"."It is plainly something which can, and does, occur," Mr Smith gave NHS England until 28 August to respond to the report with a "timetable for action". Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices
Reuters
4 hours ago
- Reuters
Tainted alcohol leaves 13 Asians dead, 21 blinded in Kuwait, health ministry says
KUWAIT, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Kuwait's health ministry said 63 people had suffered methanol poisoning from contaminated alcoholic drinks in the five days to Wednesday, resulting in 13 deaths and 21 cases of blindness or impaired vision. The ministry said in a statement on X late on Wednesday that all those affected were of Asian nationalities, adding that 51 required urgent kidney dialysis and 31 needed mechanical ventilation. Kuwait bans the import or domestic production of alcoholic beverages, but some is manufactured in the country illegally in secret locations that lack any oversight or safety standards, exposing consumers to the risk of poisoning. The Embassy of India in Kuwait, which has the largest expatriate community in the country, said around 40 Indian nationals in Kuwait have been hospitalized in the last few days, without specifying the cause. "There have been some fatalities, some are in a critical condition while others are recovering," it added in a statement on X, noting that it is seeking further details.
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Two-year-old boy dies after doctors use air hose to dislodge popcorn stuck up his nose, rupturing his lungs
A two-year-old boy has died after doctors used an air hose to dislodge a popcorn kernel that was stuck up his noise, rupturing his lungs and stomach. Ravi de Souza Figueiredo died hours after being treated and discharged from the Goiatuba Municipal Hospital in Goias state, Brazil, after the doctors performed the botched procedure. Two doctors have been indicted for manslaughter, after police and prosecutors opened an investigation into negligence at the hospital. His parents said they took him to the hospital after being unable to remove a corn kernel that got stuck in his nose. Hospital staff first tried to extract it with tweezers without success. They then inserted a rubber cannula into his nostril and blew compressed air twice in an attempt to dislodge it. The family said the kernel remained stuck and the child vomited immediately afterwards. His father noticed his stomach swell right after the procedure, and later forensic reports found his lung and stomach had ruptured. Ravi was given medication for gas, kept under observation for a few hours, and discharged. He later fell ill again and returned to the hospital, where further tests were carried out. 'He remained bloated, weak, and couldn't speak. He didn't look well, he was distressed, so we returned to the same hospital,' his father Josenilson da Silva Figueiredo said, reported the Mirror. A pediatrician ordered his transfer to a larger hospital, but on the way he developed breathing difficulties and was declared dead soon after on April 5. His mother, Priscila Marta de Souza, said: 'I saw the moment the nurse lowered her head. She said: "Unfortunately, your son has passed away." I went into despair.' The autopsy recorded acute respiratory failure as the cause of death. His father is quoted in Brazilian news website G1 as saying: 'Ravi was fine, breathing normally and even talking. He was a healthy child, running everywhere. I want justice. It's so painful.' Police chief Sergio Henrique said the compressed air procedure was not in line with standard practice and that an immediate X-ray could have prevented the tragedy. 'When trying to remove the corn kernel, which was in the boy's nose, the doctor used a non-standard technique, which is not recommended - introducing a compressed air cannula into the child's upper airways,' he said, addressing reporters on July 9. 'This caused air to enter the lungs and stomach with great force, leading to the rupture of these organs.' They have now charged Dr Daniella Carvalho Ferreira and Dr Isabella Helena Caixeta de Oliveira with negligence over the boy's death. The Public Prosecutor's Office has received the investigation and is awaiting technical information from the Regional Medical Council of the State of Goias. The family's lawyer, Vinicius Dias, said he would assist the prosecution and file a civil lawsuit, adding that the defence would be 'firm, technical, and combative' to ensure accountability.
