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Northwestern Memorial Hospital surgeons remove massive cancerous tumor from patient's heart
Michael Dilillo had a massive cancerous tumor growing into his heart that was life-threatening and required surgery to remove and repair the damage.
CHICAGO - Northwestern Medicine surgeons removed a football-sized tumor from a patient's heart.
Michael Dilillo had a massive cancerous tumor growing into his heart that was life-threatening and required surgery to remove and repair the damage.
Dillio consulted surgeons at multiple hospitals and no one was willing to take on the task until he went to surgeons at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
"A tumor in front of his heart that was actually invading his heart, a football-sized tumor, and this is a particularly challenging thing to deal with, especially if it's invading the heart," said Dr. Chris Mehta of Northwestern Medicine. "But once we had removed the entire tumor, which was about 10 cm by 12 cm, you know, we were then faced with having to reconstruct the heart in a way that he could live a normal life."
Surgeons say Dilillo continues to grow stronger every day and recently enjoyed celebrating his first Christmas with his family.