Doctors in India have successfully removed world’s largest adrenal tumour from the body of 55-year-old Ashwini Marwah, who had been steadily gaining weight over the last few years.
During investigations, the doctors an 11.5 kg adrenal tumour completely occupying the right side of the abdomen and also crossing over to the left side.
Adrenal myelolipoma is a very rare benign tumour, which contains mature adipose tissue and variable amounts of haematopoietic elements. Most lesions are small and asymptomatic, and discovered incidentally. It is usually small, asymptomatic and non-functional in nature, with an overall incidence of 0.05% to 0.2%.
The patient, who was suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and hypertension, had come in for evaluation for bariatric surgery.
The patient was shifted under the care of Randeep Wadhawan, the director of bariatric and gastrointestinal surgery at Fortis Flt. Lt. Rajan Dhall Hospital, Vasant Kunj.
During operation, the biggest challenge was to salvage the patient’s right kidney, since his kidney functions were already affected due to diabetes and hypertension.
The largest tumour reported in India so far weighed 6 kg and was removed in 2003, while the largest adrenal adenoma, the differential diagnosis for adrenal tumours, removed in the world weighed 7.5 kg and was removed in 2013.