“The tumour could have easily been there for more than 20 years”Dr Mani Mekalai
The tumour weighed a whopping 30lbs – five times as much as a baby – and was 21in in diameter.
Doctors performed the complex surgery on the woman, known only as Latha.
The 52-year-old patient had been suffering from breathlessness and fatigue for several years but had no clue that a tumour bigger than a beachball was destroying her insides.
One month ago Latha arrived at Kumuran Hospital in Kilpauk, India, with severe anemia and profuse bleeding.
Doctors found there was a "large fibroid" attached to the outer surface of her uterus which was pressing down and causing her health problems.
"We were shocked at the scan reports because the fibroid was huge. In medical parlance, this is called a super giant uterine fibroid and the largest one removed before it in Africa weighed 9.6 kilograms," said Dr Mani Mekalai, head of the department of obstetrics and gynecology.
The doctor also said because the tumour was outside of the uterus the patient was unaware of its presence.
"From the sheer size of it, the tumour could have easily been there for more than 20 years," she added.
The patient was rushed to surgery and a team of four specialist surgeons spent three-and-a-half hours removing it.
"The surgery was challenging as the fibroid, which takes blood supply to grow, had a lot of blood vessels attached to it," said surgical gastroenterologist Dr. Shiva Kumar.
"It was also stuck to the small bowel and omentum and was also pressing on the uterus. We had to carefully slice through and detach it."
Dr Mekali explained that though uterine tumours were common in women the fibroid that was removed recently was particualry large.
"Nearly 25 per cent of women in the reproductive group are susceptible to such fibroids and they usually come in multiples. High amounts of oestrogen can cause these tumours," she added.