CHENNAI: A team of doctors at the Kalaignar Centenary Super Speciality Hospital recently performed a complex surgery, first for a government hospital in Tamil Nadu, on a 59-year-old man who has been diagnosed with chondrosarcoma, a rare malignant bone tumour, in the sternum. According to the doctors, the surgery would have cost up to Rs 12 lakh at a private hospital.

Dr Sujay Susikar, associate professor of Surgical Oncology, said chondrosarcoma occurs in about 0.1 percent of the population. The tumour had destroyed the patient’s sternum, and had spread to the chest wall from the 3rd to 6th ribs on the left side. As the ribs and surrounding soft tissue were removed, a large gap was formed in the sternum. Doctors used customised 34 printed titanium implants to fill the gap.