LEAD: Doctors to remove 90-kilogram tumour from Vietnamese man's leg

Jan 5, 2012, 13:15 GMT

Hanoi - Doctors on Thursday started removing a 90-kilogram tumour from a Vietnamese man's leg, medical staff and his family said.

Plastic surgeon McKay McKinnon and six Vietnamese doctors started the operation to remove Nguyen Duy Hai's tumour at French-Vietnam (FV) Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, according to Hai's brother Nguyen Duy Sang.

The metre-wide tumour has been growing on the 32-year-old man's right leg for more than 30 years, despite an amputation at the knee 14 years ago. It has grown 10 centimetres in diameter over the past month and from 80 to more than 90 kilogrammes, doctors said.

The operation started at 0100 GMT. Doctors at first estimated they would need between eight to 10 hours to remove the tumour, but they later said they would need an extra three hours to finish. Three-fourths of the tumour has been removed.

If the operation is successful, the functional organs of the patient, such as his heart, lungs would take at least seven days to resume ordinary operation, doctors said.

Gerard Desvignes, the hospital's medical director, who was monitoring the operation, said the surgery was risky. He put the chance of success at 50 per cent. The patient was happy to proceed with the removal nonetheless.

'My son has carried the tumour for dozen years,' said the patient's mother. 'Whether the surgery is successful or not, my son and my family accept it happily.'

The growth has twisted Hai's spine and pelvis and caused problems with his breathing and blood circulation.

McKinnon has conducted several operations to remove large tumours, which have received widespread media coverage in recent years.

The estimated fee of the surgery was 20,000 dollars, which will be covered by donations, the hospital said. McKinnon has waived his fee for Hai's surgery.

The US television channel MorningStar Entertainment was broadcasting the surgery live. Doctors at FV hospital were also watching the operation via closed circuit television.