In a first-ever recorded medical procedure of its kind, doctors at BLK Hospital removed a ruptured Hydatid cyst from the right lung of Ruhi-Un-Nisa, a 45-year-old woman from Srinagar, without conducting an open chest surgery. The cyst, formed by the larvae of tapeworms, was excised piecemeal by freezing it using a cryoprobe.
The patient showed initial symptoms and discomfort in July this year when she spit blood while coughing. She underwent a CT scan of the chest which revealed 43 X 35mm cyst (equivalent to a size of tennis ball) in superior segment of lower lobe of right lung. The patient followed the CT scan with a bronchoscopy procedure thereafter in Srinagar. However, her condition deteriorated, and she went into respiratory distress. Ruhi-Un-Nisa was unable to lie down and had not slept for close to two months. She had severe difficulty in breathing; she went to hospital in Kashmir where she was advised to rush to Delhi for emergency treatment.
The patient came with severe breathlessness and constantly felt a salty-bitter taste in her mouth. Doctors suspected the symptoms to be caused by a ruptured Hydatid cyst.
The team led by Dr Sandeep Nayar HOD, Chest & Respiratory Diseases, at BLK Hospital flushed out the spilled fluids/contents from both lungs. He then excised the ruptured membrane with the help of a Cryoprobe (a surgical probe to apply extreme cold to body tissues and freeze them). The membrane was frozen and extracted through the mouth and it gave immediate relief to the patient from her symptoms. Dr Nayar performed this procedure through bronchoscope under local anesthesia. CT chest and bronchoscopy repeated after four days ensured that the lung was completely cleared of the cyst.