First foetus-in-liver case tests doctors
THUA THIEN-HUE—Doctors in Thua Thien-Hue Province are giving emergency treatment to a woman diagnosed with a dead 11-week foetus in her liver, an unprecedented case in Viet Nam’s medical community.
"This is Viet Nam’s first case of a foetus found in the liver and the fourth in the world,"said Dr Bach Cam An, head of Hue Central Hospital’s Obstetrics Department.
"The three other cases were in Australia, Hong Kong and Switzerland."
Relatives of Hoang Thi Ngan, 38, from Vinh My commune in Phu Loc District sent her to Hue Central Hospital last Tuesday after she suffered prolonged and piercing pains in her liver area.
An ultrasound showed there was an abnormal tumour in the patient’s liver, doctors said.
Hue Central Hospital doctors said the normally formed foetus was encased in a fluid-filled tumour.
Doctors of the hospital’s Obstetric Department said the foetus had left the uterus and had gone astray into a region between the liver and kidney.
"The foetus attached closely to the surface of the liver, where it was nourished and grew through blood vessels of the liver," the doctors said.
The patient was given an injection immediately after she was diagnosed.
"The chemical treatment will slowly destroy the foetus. It’s not costly and with daily injections, will take about a month, " one doctor said.
Dr An said, "At present we cannot say if the treatment will be successful. If it fails, the patient must undergo an operation to take the foetus out of her liver."
"Surgery may cause some danger because a part of the liver will be taken out which would easily cause her to haemorrhage and will be harmful to the patient’s health," he said.
Ngan’s two previous pregnancies were trouble-free and her children are in good health. Hospital staff report the patient is improving. — VNS
