Doctors from the National Institute of Child Health-Breña successfully removed a maxillofacial tumor from a 13-year-old minor from Piura, which spread to other organs. The alerts that the minor presented began with bleeding in the upper right gum accompanied by pain when brushing her teeth.
Since June of last year, the teenager noticed that every time she brushed her teeth, her gums bled and caused a slight pain. As time went on, she noticed that she had a lump on her gum and that it was growing.
Patricia Carrera, mother of the minor, took her daughter to a dentist and to different doctors. However, one of these recommended him to go in search of specialists in Head and Neck Maxillofacial.
Thus, with the medical reference, last January he arrived at the INSN Breña, where they carried out different tests, including a tomography. Dr. Isabel Pisfil Valenzuela diagnosed the minor with a mucoepidermoid tumor of the alveolar ridge (gums) on the right side.
“This is a type of cancer that originates in the minor salivary glands that have a distribution throughout the aerodigestive tract. That is, they are in the mouth, in the throat and can be located up to the part of the larynx”explained the specialist.
Dr. Pisfil indicated that “This type of tumor, of the salivary glands, is not common in children or adolescents. It has usually been seen in people over the age of sixty”.
Successful operation
On January 21, the minor underwent surgery at INSN Breña and a 2.5 x 2.00 cm tumor was removed. She also had four teeth removed to get to the area of the tumor.
The surgical intervention lasted three hours. This tumor threatened to spread to the lymph nodes in the neck and from there it could have advanced to the lung, reported the Head and Neck specialist.
