Doctors at 175 Military Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City have carried out a surgery and successfully removed a rare mucinous tumor from the heart of a 20-year-old patient.

H.M.A.H., a 20-year-old resident of Binh Thanh District in the southern city, suffered from shortness of breath on exertion, which intensified day by day and was accompanied by edema of the legs and jaundice since the end of July.

H. was diagnosed with a right atrial mucinous tumor at a local medical facility before being transferred to 175 Military Hospital in Go Vap District on August 4 with severe right heart failure, liver damage, increasing shortness of breath, and extreme nausea.

The number of patients with heart tumors accounts for only 0.2 percent around the world, of which primary tumors are very rare, according to doctors.

Doctors conducted a definitive examination of H.’s tumor and other laboratory tests to rule out thrombosis and secondary malignancies.

During the diagnostic process, they discovered that multi-organ tuberculosis was progressing in H.’s lungs and intestines.

After more than two weeks of intensive treatment, the patient underwent a 15-hour surgery to eliminate the tumor and repair the damage it caused on the heart.

Currently, H. is undergoing rehabilitation at the cardiovascular surgery department and has shown positive response to treatment.

H.’s case was the second atrial mucinous tumor to have been discovered and treated at 175 Military Hospital in the past five years. 

The first was her brother, who also completed a surgery to treat a left atrial mucinous tumor at the hospital in 2017.

H.’s lump is the largest case of right atrial mucinous tumor, with dimensions of 10cm x 9.5cm x 5.5cm, ever successfully treated in Vietnam, according to reports published in the country, and possibly among the biggest ones in the world.

The largest mucinous tumor, which measures 10cm x 6cm x 8cm, was published in a medical report by an author known as Nina in 2012.

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