British doctors performed an extremely rare and complex operation to save the life of a pregnant woman diagnosed with ovarian cancer. This is reported by the BBC, writes UNN.
Details
According to the media, a 32-year-old woman named Lucy was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 12 weeks of pregnancy.
In the 20th week, a group of 15 doctors at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford performed a five-hour operation to remove cancer cells on both ovaries behind the uterus.
Then her son was returned to Lucy, and at the end of January he was "reborn" weighing approximately 2.8 kg.
Doctors feared that if they waited for the baby to be born to start treating Lucy's tumor, the cancer would most likely spread and be life-threatening.
However, her pregnancy was too advanced for surgeons to perform a standard operation.
During the five-hour operation, Lucy's uterus, in which her unborn child was still located, was removed.
This allowed doctors to examine and remove cancer cells on both ovaries behind the uterus.
The uterus remained connected to the uterine artery to maintain the baby's blood and oxygen supply. It also remained connected to the left fallopian tube and cervix.
Two members of the team held Lucy's uterus in their hands throughout the procedure.
It was wrapped in a warm sterile saline solution to simulate being inside the body and maintain the required temperature.
According to reports, Lucy had no symptoms before she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and she said she was "incredibly lucky" to have been diagnosed and treated.