10th July, Chennai: In one of the rarest instances in the medical history ever, a team of expert surgeons led by Dr. Moorthy at Rainbow Children’s Hospital successfully treated a 6 month old baby, who was born with a thyroglossal cyst on the tongue. While thyroglossal cysts are generally found in the throat region of an adult/baby, it has never been found on a tongue before.
Baby Theeran, was brought to the hospital in a stable condition with a swelling in the tongue which was present since birth. The swelling had occupied the whole of the mouth, thereby pushing the tongue to the upper palette making it challenging for the baby to breast feed and swallow.
Upon performing tests and MRI scans, the reports revealed a lymphatic cyst on tongue which was resistant to sclerotherapy (a procedure to shrink the size of blood vessels). The 6 month old baby’s condition started to become critical as the cystic tumor which was arising from the tongue had extended up to the floor of the mouth, and thereby hampering the baby’s intake of food and milk.
After careful evaluation and study of the cyst, the doctors diagnosed the tumor to be a thyroglossal duct cyst which required surgical intervention for its removal.
Speaking about the surgery, Dr. Moorthy G, Senior Consultant – Pediatric Surgery & Urology said, “Baby had a large cystic lesions on the tongue which occupied a surface area of 6*6*6cm. The Cyst was intramuscular in nature and was filled with brownish jelly material. During the surgery, we had to decompress the cyst and drain the liquid to safely remove the tumor. To avoid compression of airways which could be fatal, the surgery was performed with complete finesse and precision as the excision was performed around the airways in the mouth.”
The baby was discharged after three days from the date of surgery and is recovering well. He has resumed his normal food intake and is able to drink and eat comfortably like any other 6 month old healthy baby.