8-year-old Yemeni boy undergoes rare thyroid cancer surgery at Jaslok Hospital

Mumbai: In a remarkable medical achievement, Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre recently provided comprehensive and successful treatment to an 8-year-old child from Yemen diagnosed with Papillary Thyroid Cancer. 

The child arrived at the facility on 2nd Jan 2024 with a 4x4 cm swelling in the front and left side of the neck that he had for three months, a condition initially suspected to be a common lymphatic swelling.

Usually, such neck swellings in young children are lymphatic swellings like cystic hygroma or branchial cysts, but in this child, it was a much more serious diagnosis. However, thorough investigations conducted in Yemen revealed the unexpected diagnosis of thyroid cancer.

Having thyroid cancer in such young patients can sometimes be associated with many other medical problems like diseases of the adrenal glands, pancreatic pathology, or parathyroid gland pathology. Hence, the patient was evaluated for any such associated pathologies via a series of blood tests, all of which were found to be normal. A PET CT scan was also conducted to rule out any distant spread in the body.

All these investigations were available in-house at Jaslok Hospital, and the entire preoperative workup and diagnostic evaluation of the patient were done in a matter of days. The diagnosis was explained to the patient’s parents, and with informed consent, the medical team proceeded with major thyroid surgery. The surgery was challenging in such a small boy due to his age and small neck size, posing a higher risk of injury to vital neck structures like the larynx, recurrent nerve and parathyroids. The surgery was successfully performed with by Dr. Mehul Bhansali, Dr Snehal Bhange and their team of doctors on 9th January, 2024.

Postoperatively, the patient was well-managed by the Paediatric ICU team and discharged on the third day after surgery. Dr Fazal Nabi, speaking about the care mentioned “8 years old boy presented with complaint of Swelling in anterior side of neck for 3 months. Swelling gradually increased in size.

There was no pain or any other constitutional symptoms. Only accompanying symptom was presence of enlarged Right cervical Lymph node. Investigations were done which showed presence of Papillary carcinoma of Thyroid which was later confirmed on Biopsy and PET Scan showed enlarged cervical lymph node and thyroid swelling.

He was operated for total thyroidectomy. Post operative serum calcium levels were normal on Day 0. He developed Tetany on Post Operative Day 1 and was treated with IV calcium gluconate along with Vitamin D and Magnesium. He didn't have other episode of tetany and recovered well with intensive post operative care. He was discharged on oral calcium and vitamin D. Papillary carcinoma of thyroid in children is rare with an incidence of 0.54 per 100000 children and requires intensive management of calcium and vitamin D levels in the body for optimum outcomes.”

The final histopathology report from the hospital confirmed papillary thyroid cancer. He was discharged on 15th January, 2024. The patient will now need further Radioactive Iodine ablation to complete his treatment, which will be carried out by the Nuclear Medicine department following established protocols.

Speaking about challenges in the surgery of such a small child Dr Mehul Bhansali, Director of Surgical Oncology, mentioned “The technical difficulties in handling delicate vital structures in the neck of a child with no intraoperative complications was possible only due to high quality training and expertise of all the surgeons. Smooth post- operative recovery was the joint effort of the Paediatric team and dedicated round the clock nursing care. He emphasized on the hospital's commitment to delivering the highest standard of care to all patients.”

Mr. Samad Zaid, father of the child mentioned “Mazen is doing extremely well and I am so delighted to see him back to his normal life.”

Jaslok Hospital takes pride in its multidisciplinary approach, cutting-edge facilities, and the collaborative expertise of its medical professionals, which collectively contribute to the successful management of complex cases. The hospital remains committed to delivering world-class healthcare with compassion and innovation.