After complaining of severe stomach pain, a four-year-old girl was admitted to Rambam Health Care Campus (Rambam) in Haifa, Israel. Upon arrival, she was rushed to surgery where the medical team discovered a tumor weighing a tenth of her weight, adjacent to one of her kidneys.
Dr. Ran Steinberg. Photography: Nitzan Zohar.
During a recent surgical procedure, doctors in the Department of Pediatric Surgery at Rambam’s Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital were amazed to find a 1.2-kilogram cancerous tumor in the patient’s stomach. Ariella*, their young patient is only 4 years old.
Ariella’s grandparents brought her to the hospital after the child had complained of severe pain in the kidney area. Upon admission to Rambam, the medical team performed extensive imaging tests. At that point, Ariella underwent a complex surgery, led by two senior physicians, Dr. Arcady Vachyan, director of Pediatric Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery, and Dr. Ran Steinberg, director of the Department of Pediatric Surgery. Dr. Steinberg explains, “When we performed imaging tests, we realized that what we were dealing with was a large tumor. However, during surgery, we saw the tumor with our eyes and realized that the imaging had not accurately reflected its size. The medical team, including senior oncologists, completely removed the tumor and weighed it. Then it was clear just how enormous the growth was.”
Steinberg added that according to medical literature in the field of cancerous pediatric tumors, grandparents play a critical role in identifying and raising suspicions that “something is wrong” with the child. Because they are not with the child every day, it is easier for them to detect abnormalities in their grandchild’s behavior and physical deviations.
According to Steinberg, his department annually encounters at least ten cases of these types of tumors. Ariella’s case was unique due to the size of the tumor as well as its proximity to her right kidney and central arteries, making the surgery very complicated. “Past experience shows us that, especially in children, no matter how large the growth, the chances of complete recovery tend to be good. This is a fantastic thing, it gives both the child and her parents strength to fight – there is a positive horizon,” he explained. Ariella will be released from the hospital and return home in the coming days.
*Name changed to protect the patient’s identity.
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