The boy carried a giant turtle shell, slept sitting for 26 years

The tumor on the young man's back grew larger and larger, covering his entire back, accompanied by persistent, stabbing pain that forced him to sleep sitting up.

Dr. Nguyen Hong Ha, Head of the Department of Plastic, Maxillofacial and Aesthetic Surgery (Viet Duc Friendship Hospital) said the patient was Nguyen Dinh V. (26 years old, in Que Vo, Bac Ninh).

The patient was hospitalized in mid-December, diagnosed with a large neurofibroma in the back area accounting for more than 1/3 of body weight, with a weak constitution, malnutrition, chronic anemia and associated renal failure.

The large tumor occupied the patient's entire back.

The tumor is up to 60x50cm in size, especially dangerous because of the proliferation of blood vessels, the temperature in the tumor is always 2-3 degrees Celsius higher than body temperature.

After testing and interdisciplinary consultation, on December 13, a special surgery was performed with the combination of many specialties such as anesthesia, resuscitation, diagnostic imaging, and cosmetic plastic surgery.

Before surgery, the patient's tumor blood vessels are embolized and he is placed under general anesthesia before being transferred to the operating table.

Dr. Ha added that in the case of patient V., the surgeon had to use an ultrasonic knife - a special knife used only in liver surgery, combined with an automatic hemostatic clip, sealing the blood vessels as he operated to avoid massive bleeding, so even though the surgery lasted 7 hours, the patient only lost over 1 liter of blood. The removed tumor weighed nearly 15 kg.

The removed tumor weighed nearly 15kg.

After the surgery, the gap on the back was too large so the doctor had to take skin from both thighs to cover the back. Up to now, the patient is stable, the skin graft is doing well, and is expected to be discharged in the next 1-2 days.

“I felt like I was born a second time. When I woke up and saw that the tumor on my back was gone, I thought I was dreaming. This was the first time I slept like a normal person in 26 years,” V. happily shared.

Patient Nguyen Dinh Tam's uncle said that when V. was young, he had a dark tumor on his back, but it grew larger and larger, making it impossible for him to sleep lying down. Recently, the tumor caused V. a lot of pain, and he had to take painkillers and fever reducers, but the pain only lasted a short while.

V.'s family situation is very difficult. His father has a mental illness and his mother suffered a brain injury after a traffic accident and lost her ability to work. She still has to work as a cleaner at Que Vo Industrial Park with a salary of 2 million/month.

After 2 weeks of surgery, the patient's health was stable.

Dr. Ha said that neurofibromas are divided into 4 groups, can appear in any part of the body, and are often hereditary when parents or siblings have the same disease.

The first symptoms are usually dark spots on the skin like birthmarks or café au lait spots all over the body. Diagnosis is mainly based on clinical picture and family history.

Some malignant neurofibromatosis variants (8-12%) require testing such as: Endoscopy to remove the tumor inside the body, performing pathology. Imaging diagnosis often uses MRI or CT.

According to Vietnamnet