On September 18, Vinmec Times City International General Hospital announced that it had successfully performed radical surgery to remove a 11.5 cm mediastinal tumor and reconstructed the patient's chest using titanium material.
A 55-year-old female patient in Ha Nam had severe pain in her left chest for many weeks, the pain was constant, especially increased when breathing, causing difficulty in daily activities. The patient went to the provincial hospital for examination and discovered a chest tumor (anterior mediastinal tumor). The patient was transferred to Vinmec Times City International General Hospital for multidisciplinary consultation and treatment plan.
The results showed that the large mediastinal tumor, up to 11.5 cm in size, had complicatedly invaded the left chest wall, ribs 2, 3, 4, the upper lobe of the left lung and part of the sternum, causing serious compression on the heart, lungs and surrounding organs. The case was diagnosed at a late stage, chemotherapy and radiotherapy were no longer effective, and could only be resolved by wide surgical excision of the tumor along with the sternum and adjacent ribs.
In addition to eradicating the tumor, the case also posed a major challenge in reconstructing the chest wall to protect the heart and lung function after surgery. If not properly reconstructed, the risk of respiratory failure and injury to internal organs will increase significantly.
Dr. Dang Quang Huy - Deputy Director of the Cardiovascular Center, Vinmec Times City International General Hospital - said that in the past, in Vietnam in particular and Southeast Asia in general, large thoracic defects after cancer surgery were often covered by using skin flaps from other locations, creating a large scar and causing psychological trauma to the patient. The artificial materials used in the past were only used to cover the shape, not protecting the heart and lungs inside the chest in the correct position and functioning normally, against external impacts. Therefore, traditional surgical options are still not considered the optimal solution.
"To solve this problem, the design team, including Vinmec cardiothoracic and orthopedic experts and the engineering team of the 3D Technology Center in Medicine, VinUni University, spent nearly three weeks tirelessly researching and improving to overcome the limitations of previous designs, testing dozens of simulation scenarios to achieve meticulous and sophisticated designs, ensuring thinness and accuracy according to the highest standards," said Prof. Dr. Tran Trung Dung - Director of Orthopedic and Musculoskeletal Trauma, Vinmec Healthcare System.
The surgery to reconstruct almost the entire left chest for the patient was successful after nearly 3 hours. In this surgery, the doctors focused on restoring the anatomical structure of the chest area, ensuring respiratory function and necessary protection for important internal organs.
During the surgery, the implant was tested for functionality. The fit was 99% and the patient was able to breathe normally. Just one day after surgery, the patient was able to sit up and talk normally, recovered well and was discharged from the hospital after only five days. The precision of the surgery thanks to 3D technology shortened the surgery time and helped the patient recover quickly, with the hospital stay reduced by half compared to normal.
