VietNamNet Bridge - On July 23, 2013, a world famous surgeon from the US and doctors of Vinmec Hospital performed a 9-hour operation to separate the huge melanoma on the face of the boy Le Trung T.

T before the surgery.

This surgery was directly conducted by world-renowned doctor McKay McKinnon and Vinmec Hospital’s Director - Prof. Nguyen Thanh Liem, a leading expert of pediatrics.

Born in 1998 with a nice face, Le Trung T. (a resident of Ben Sung town, Nhu Thanh district, Thanh Hoa province) unexpectedly became a "boy without a human face."

A malignant tumor suddenly appeared on his face, dragging from the mouth to the forehead. The normal life of T. stopped, instead of painful days of fighting the disease and self pity.

The tumor grew bigger, occupying almost the entire face, pushing the two eyes in two directions, the mouth and the nose were distorted, completely disfiguring the boy’s face.

The tumor not only deformed the face but also blurred one eye and made one ear deaf. T had to breath by his mouth. At the age of 14 but the boy weighs only over 20kg.

However, it was not the worst. After four years, the giant melanoma destroyed part of the skull, frontal sinus, went deep into the base of the skull, pinched into the optic nerve and the pituitary, threatening to life.

The family took the boy to all big hospitals in the country but doctors shook their heads because this is a rare illness, beyond surgery ability in Vietnam.

The American doctor examines the turmor.

Through funding from organizations and individuals in the country and the world, T was operated for free by the world leading tumor surgeon McKay McKinnon.

The Hanoi-based Vinmec International Hospital covered 70 percent of surgery cost, supplied the assistant crew to doctor McKay McKinnon.

At 9.30 am on July 23, the surgery started. As the tumor was too big and the surgery was long, up to 9 hours, the patient lost a lot of blood. The operation crew gave a blood transfusion totaling 7 liter to the boy.

The melanoma deeply infiltrated into the skull so the separation of the tumor required high skills.

Dr. McKay McKinnon and colleagues attempted to remove the tumor without affecting other parts of the skull structure such as the eye and brain.

After 9 hours, doctors successfully rescued T from the giant malignant tumor. His life is no longer threatened.

Prof. Nguyen Thanh Liem said the surgery was successful as expected. The remaining problem is cosmetic surgery to reconstruct the nose for T.

According to Dr. McKay McKinnon, the boy will have a nose in at least 6 months or 1 year, after making sure that the tumor does not grow again.

Cam Quyen