Giant tumour operation a success

A Romanian woman was in a stable condition today after an eight hour operation to remove a 176 pound benign tumour.

Dr Ioan Lascar, a Bucharest doctor who teamed up with American plastic surgeon McKay McKinnon for the operation, said he had talked to Lucica Bunghez, 46, and “she felt free after the tumour was removed.”

A team of 14 doctors performed the surgery in Bucharest and took less time than expected because the tumour was symmetrical, allowing for two teams of surgeons to work simultaneously, said Dr Lascar.

He said Bunghez still needs to undergo a skin reconstruction operation.

McKinnon is a reconstructive surgeon from the University of Chicago Hospital.

He participated in what doctors said was the second-largest tumour ever to be surgically removed - an operation the Romanian medical establishment was unable to handle without outside expertise and equipment.

In 2000, McKinnon removed a 200 pound tumour caused by the same disorder from a Michigan woman

Bunghez, a former cake seller from the Transylvanian city of Brasov, has been bedridden and unable to care for herself for three years due to the growing tumour.

McKinnon offered his services for free after the Romanian government said it could not afford to send Bunghez to the US for surgery.