Largest sacral tumor removed from patient

Doctors from Shanghai's Changzheng Hospital announced the successful removal of a huge 12.6-kilogram tumor from the lower back of a 62-year-old woman.

The 10-hour surgery on April 4 set the world record for the largest completely removed sacral tumor.

The woman, surnamed Zhang, started to notice a lump on her left hip six years ago, but she didn’t go to hospital since there was no other discomfort. The lump began to grow quickly over the past year, seriously impacting her life quality — she had to lie on her stomach while sleeping, for example.

Traveling among different hospitals, doctors told her the surgery was too risky.

It wasn't until visiting Changzheng Hospital recently that doctors took on the patient's case and organized multi-department consultations and a surgery plan. 

Officials from Changzheng Hospital said the hospital has conducted over 10,000 spinal tumor operations, over 1,500 annually, becoming the largest spinal tumor treatment center in the world.

Changzheng Hospital is also the only training center in the field in the Asian Pacific region.

Zhang is now in a stable condition.