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Doctors Operate to Remove Tumor Growing at the Mouth of Fetus

by Kathy Jones on June 23, 2012 at 11:58 PM

Doctors at the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida have successfully operated to remove a rare tumor called an oral teratoma in a developing fetus.


Mother Tammy Gonzalez said that she was able to see a bubble coming out of her baby's mouth during a scan that she underwent at 17 weeks. Doctors informed her that the bubble was a rare tumor and the chances of her baby surviving were minimal.

However, they decided to operate while the baby was still in the uterus. Mrs Gonzalez underwent a procedure under a local anesthetic where the doctors pushed a needle through the protective amniotic sac that surrounds the fetus. Thereafter the tumor was cut off with a laser.

"When they finally severed the whole thing off and I could see it floating down, it was like this huge weight had been lifted off me and I could finally see her face," Tammy told reporters at a press conference.

The case has been described in the current issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Source: Medindia

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