Kolkata: A newborn from Tripura born with a dumbbell-shape tumour on her chest wall got a fresh lease of life in Kolkata after a life-saving surgery on the 12th day of her life by doctors at Narayana Hospital Howrah (NHH). The baby, who is now three- months old, is growing up well back home in Agartala. The doctors found that the tumour is a rare congenital malignant tumour.The young couple — a bank employee and his homemaker wife — from Agartala were over the moon when the wife conceived for the first time. But their joy soon turned into heartbreak when the foetus was detected with a huge tumour on the chest with impending respiratory distress. The foetal defect was detected during routine antenatal screening. Anticipating possible complications around delivery, the expecting mother was referred to NHH in March this year.An MRI scan at the Howrah hospital showed a huge mass arising from the chest engulfing ribs on the left side and shoulder bone with severe compression of the left lung. Doctors said that the baby was surviving on only one lung with impending life-threatening complications.Due to the rarity of the foetus ‘s condition, the hospital drew up a team of specialist doctors — Goutam Chakraborty ( paediatric and newborn surgeon), Sumana Dutta (obstetrician), Akhileswar (neonatologist) and Shubhadeep ( paediatric intensivist).Doctors said that while the congenital defect in the foetus did not pose any health risk to the mother, the threat was on the baby after the delivery as the tumour was compressing the lungs. Taking all precautionary measures, the doctors ensured a safe delivery of the girl child. While the delivery was done without many hiccups, the doctors found the baby in respiratory distress.The paediatric surgery team waited for 11 days for the baby to stabilise. On the 12th day, the team conducted the surgery where the anaesthesia team — led by Piyali Ghosh — ensured the safety of the 12-day-old.“Following the standard treatment protocol for such tumours, we removed the part that was compressing the lungs and causing respiratory distress,” said Chakraborty.A biopsy revealed the tumour to be congenital embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancerous growth arising from the rib cage and muscles of the chest . Doctors said this is an extremely rare soft-tissue cancer present at birth that can present as a growing mass in sites like the head, neck or the urinary tract in addition to the chest wall.“This is an extremely rare tumour in newborns. Only 15-20 such cases in newborns have been reported worldwide,” said Debmalya Banerjee, chief oncopathologist, Narayana Health.Post-operative ventilation and intensive therapy was done under the guidance of Shubhadeep Das. With gradual improvement, the baby was discharged after two weeks but was under regular follow-up. During the recent check-up, doctors were satisfied with the treatment outcome.“The baby is gaining weight and growing up well. But she will be under our regular follow-up and review as she might need another surgery or chemotherapy at a later stage to ensure that the cancer does not return,” added Chakraborty.Doctors said that treatment for this congenital condition is highly specialised and generally requires a multidisciplinary paediatric team to balance eradicating the cancerous mass while protecting a newborn’s developing organs. The treatment protocol includes surgery and chemotherapy.
