Patient L (64 years old, in Thai Nguyen) said that he discovered the tumor 1 year ago but refused surgery because the tumor was small and did not cause any discomfort. Recently, the patient had increasing difficulty breathing but still hesitated to go to the doctor, until his health seriously declined, losing 5 kg, then he went to the hospital.
The results of the CT scan at the Hanoi Oncology Hospital showed that the right chest had a solid mass measuring 20x15 cm, compressing the lung, infiltrating the mediastinum and chest wall. The patient underwent a biopsy of the tumor, and the pathological result was a solitary fibrous tumor.
The patient was then indicated for surgery to treat the tumor, however, the surgical prognosis was difficult because the patient was weak, the tumor was large, occupied almost the entire chest cavity, and had many new blood vessels.
Dr. Phan Le Thang - Head of the Department of On-Demand Surgery, Hanoi Oncology Hospital - said that the surgical team had to consult and calculate carefully before the surgery because the surgical operations had to be performed in an extremely narrow operating room. The tumor had a rich supply of blood vessels, so the surgeon had to dissect carefully, find and control the supply to ensure the safety of the surgery and limit blood loss for the patient.
The surgery was successful, the removed tumor weighed more than 2 kg. During the surgery, the patient did not require additional blood transfusion, recovered well, had the pleural drain removed on the 3rd day after surgery, and was discharged after 5 days. Postoperative pathology: solitary pleural fibroma, histological grade 1.
According to the doctor's assessment, this large tumor is quite rare. If the patient leaves it untreated for a long time, not only will the surgery become difficult, but there is also a risk of the disease becoming malignant, affecting life. Therefore, when treatment is indicated, the patient should not hesitate and miss the "golden time" for treatment.
Surgery plays a decisive role in the treatment of Solitary Fibrous Tumor of the Pleura (SFTP) because it is the only method that completely removes the tumor and reduces the risk of recurrence.
In most cases, radical surgical resection of the tumor provides a good prognosis and high survival rate for patients. Prognosis: Benign solitary pleural fibroma usually has a good prognosis after surgery, but requires long-term follow-up because of the risk of recurrence or malignant transformation.
