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Surgeons Remove Rare Tumor from Newborn
01/02/2007
Indianapolis - Newborn Ann Therese is recovering at Riley Hospital for Children after surgeons performed a life-saving surgery to remove a rare, giant tumor attached to her heart. The case is one of fewer than 50 of its kind in recorded medical history.
Ann's mother, Paige Felts, went in for an ultrasound at 27 weeks of gestation when doctors discovered the tumor. Lillie-Mae Padilla, M.D., a high-risk pregnancy specialist at Indiana University Hospital, saw a mass near the heart and immediately contacted pediatric heart specialists at sister hospital Riley Hospital for Children. A team of cardiologists led by Timothy Cordes, M.D., diagnosed a pericardial teratoma and developed a plan of action.
"At 9:30 a.m. we knew something was wrong with our baby. By noon we knew exactly what it was, and what needed to be done. Even though the situation was serious, the combined skills of the doctors at both hospitals and their seamless communication with each other gave us confidence," says father Chris Felts.
Since every week of development offered better odds with surgery, the doctors advised letting the baby grow in her mother's womb. The tumor showed little growth at first, but at 35 weeks both the baby and tumor were quickly gaining size. Paige underwent a cesarean section and the doctors performed surgery on little Ann Therese the next morning.
Cardio-thoracic surgeon John Brown, M.D., and his operating team were shocked to find a mass even larger than scans had revealed. The tumor was attached to and covering the heart.
"In over 30 years of practices, I've never seen a teratoma like this one," said Brown. I asked myself, "How am I going to get this out, when I can't even see the heart?"
His successful solution was to remove the tumor in sections.