CHENNAI: The doctors at Rainbow Children’s Hospital saved the life of a 10-year-old boy by removing a rare almost 1kg mediastinal germ cell tumour in his chest through an open chest surgery.

The boy came to the hospital with complaints of recurrent respiratory infections. An ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy revealed a tumour centrally located in the chest. It had been undetected for long, occupying a significant portion of the child’s chest.

Since the biopsy report strongly indicated malignancy, chemotherapy was given to reduce the size. Despite this, the tumour continued to occupy more than 75% of the chest cavity, said a release.

Given its critical location, surrounded by the heart and major blood vessels, both conventional and minimally invasive surgical approaches were considered high risk. The tumour weighed 900 grams.

Post surgery, the boy required ventilator support for just 24 hours, resumed oral intake the next day, and was discharged in four days. A follow up scan after 6-8 weeks confirmed no residual tumour, the release said.

The mediastinal germ cell tumours are rare and often develop silently. Though uncommon, such tumours can be life threatening, if not detected early. Persistent chest infections or unexplained breathing difficulties in children should not be ignored, the release added.