SURGEONS AT THE NATIONAL MEDICAL RESEARCH ONCOLOGICAL CENTRE SAVED A PATIENT FROM A MASSIVE OESOPHAGEAL TUMOUR

A patient from the Tambov region, who had long suffered from pain and was unable to eat normally, was given a chance at a healthy life. Specialists at the National Medical Research Radiological Centre performed a unique operation to remove the massive esophageal tumor using minimally invasive laparoscopic techniques. Although the tumor was benign, it behaved extremely aggressively. Its location in the lower third of the esophagus, close to the heart and lungs, made it a true ‘time bomb’. The growth was compressing the esophagus, making it difficult for the woman to swallow, and she was losing weight — in just the past few months she had rapidly lost weight, and the tumor itself had grown to 7 centimeters. The situation was further complicated by recurrent pneumonias and heart rhythm disturbances caused by the pressure of the tumor on neighboring organs.

The challenge for the surgeons lay in the complex location: the tumor originated from the muscle layer at the junction of the esophagus and stomach. The procedure required utmost precision: to remove the neoplasm while preserving the organ’s ‘framework’ so that the esophagus would not lose its shape or cease to function. The surgical team, led by Deputy General Director for Surgery at the National Medical Research Radiological Centre for of the Ministry of Health of Russian Federation, Andrei Ryabov, employed an unconventional approach. Access to the tumor, located in the chest, was achieved through small incisions in the abdomen—laparoscopically. «This method allows us not only to carefully remove the tumor along with part of the wall, but also to immediately reconstruct the lost tissues using the stomach base», – explains Professor Andrei Ryabov. «It is minimally traumatic for the patient».

The treating oncologist Nuriddin Abdulhakimov added an important detail: during esophageal surgery, it is critically important to preserve its ‘valve’ function, otherwise the patient will suffer from severe heartburn for life. In this case, everything went well — the natural mechanism was not damaged, and the defect in the muscle wall was successfully closed using the patient’s own tissues.