In Lviv, doctors removed a tumor from a pregnant woman and saved her unborn child
In Lviv, doctors at St. Panteleimon Hospital successfully performed a complex surgery on a pregnant woman with breast cancer. The medical team removed the malignant tumor at 31 weeks of pregnancy and were able to save the lives of both the mother and the child. A team of 12 specialists worked in the operating room, prepared for any possible scenario, including an emergency delivery.
This was reported by the First Medical Association of Lviv.
Iryna Burdio, 38, discovered a lump in her breast while she was 26 weeks pregnant and expecting her first child. After an examination, doctors diagnosed her with stage 1 breast cancer.
“Until I was 38, I lived under the illusion that I could control something in my life. But after receiving the diagnosis, I realized that wasn’t the case. Then I immediately began frantically searching for possible solutions, because I was expecting my son,” Iryna said.
The woman turned to specialists at St. Panteleimon Hospital, which is part of Lviv’s First Medical Association, for help. After a detailed examination, the doctors determined that the tumor was hormone-dependent and that its rapid growth had been triggered specifically by the pregnancy.
According to surgical oncologist and breast specialist Artem Fedosov, the situation was extremely complex due to the limitations on diagnosis and treatment during pregnancy.
“The patient had high levels of hormones released during pregnancy, which stimulated the growth of this tumor, so we had to act as quickly as possible. The situation was non-standard because the patient was expecting a child, and we couldn’t administer certain contrast agents, which complicated both diagnosis and treatment,” the doctor explained.
The medical team decided not to delay and to proceed with surgery. At the time of the operation, Iryna was already in her 31st week of pregnancy. Not only oncologists and anesthesiologists but also obstetricians-gynecologists and neonatologists were involved in the process due to the risk of premature birth and potential complications for the baby.
The surgery was a success. The doctors managed to completely remove the malignant tumor, preserve the breast, and prevent premature birth. The baby was also unharmed.
“The only things that helped me recover after the surgery were my expected son and my faith that everything would work out,” Irina shared.
At 36 weeks of pregnancy, the woman gave birth to a healthy baby boy. The child is now eight months old.
After the baby was born, the patient underwent additional tests. Doctors confirmed that the disease had not spread throughout her body, and Irina herself is in remission.
“After the pregnancy was completed, we conducted follow-up tests and found that the disease had not spread throughout the body, and the patient is now in remission. It’s truly overwhelming to know that such stories exist and that they have happy endings,” Artem Fedosov concluded.
Earlier in Ivano-Frankivsk, doctors at the regional clinical hospital restored hearing to an 11-year-old boy. During the operation, doctors found a pseudotumor in the child’s ear that was destroying the ossicles and causing deafness.
In Lviv, doctors performed a complex heart transplant operation, resulting in a 12-year-old boy receiving a heart from a 10-year-old donor who died in a traffic accident.
