New Delhi: Doctors at a private hospital in south Delhi have performed a 7-hour surgery on a 38-year-old Kenyan man with a rare form of lung cancer, removing the tumour while preserving the lower lobe of his left lung. The procedure helped avoid removal of the entire lung, which doctors said could have been required in such cases.
The patient, Mohammed Yunis Guliye, was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare cancer that typically begins in glandular tissues. According to the hospital, the tumour was located deep in the upper lobe of his left lung and had affected the main airway and a major blood vessel supplying the lung.
Guliye had been suffering from persistent pain on the left side of his chest and occasional episodes of coughing up blood. Despite consulting multiple doctors in Kenya, the exact nature of the tumour could not be established because of its location. He later approached Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital in Saket for further evaluation and treatment.
Doctors said conventional surgery in such a case could have required removal of the entire left lung, leading to a significant reduction in lung capacity. To preserve the healthy lung tissue, the surgical team chose a specialised procedure called a double-sleeve left upper lobectomy. The operation was carried out by a team led by Dr Kamran Ali, associate director of thoracic surgery and lung transplant at the hospital.
During the surgery, the affected upper lobe was removed along with the involved portions of the airway and blood vessels. The two structures were then reconstructed to restore the flow of air and blood to the remaining lower lobe of the left lung. Ali noted that the main challenge was to remove the growth entirely while saving as much functioning tissue as possible through precise reconstruction.
The surgery lasted about seven hours, and the patient was discharged within five days, the hospital said. Ali noted that a double-sleeve lobectomy can offer an alternative to removal of the entire lung in appropriately selected patients whose tumours involve critical structures, aiming to ensure complete tumour removal while maintaining respiratory function.