Heart removed to tackle cancer

The complex procedure took several hours

A woman with rare tumours on her heart may have been saved by radical surgery which involved temporarily removing the organ.

The only way surgeons could safely remove the massive growths on 57-year-old Joanne Minnich's heart was to approach the procedure in the same way as a transplant.

The so-called auto-transplant involved removing the heart, and immersing it in icy saline solution while they cut away the tumours.

During the seven hour operation, three tumours were removed.

One was the size of a lemon, and another was only detected while the operation was in progress.

The operation was thought to be Joanne Minnich's only hope of recovery.

Internet discovery

She was awaiting a heart transplant when she discovered an article on the surgeon, Michael Reardon, on the Internet.

The cancers were growing so fast that they were likely to have blocked vital blood flows to the organ before a suitable donor organ could be found.

The tumours were large, which created the problem of how to patch up the large gaps in the heart left by the excising of tumour tissue so that it would work properly once put back into the body.

In this case, specially-treated cow tissue was used to build over the gaps in the heart muscle.

Joanne will now require chemotherapy to try to ensure the cancer does not come back.

She will also need a pacemaker implanted to keep the heart beating on track.

The "autotransplant" technology was first tried in 1983, although the patient died during surgery.

Two other attempts followed. One patient is alive and well.

Dr Reardon said: "It's a rare procedure because heart cancer is very rare. You couldn't keep a medical practice open if this were your only business."

A spokesman for the Houston Methodist Hospital, where the operation took place, said that Mrs Minnich was currently "doing well".