Miami surgeons operate on Haitian girl with massive tumour on her face

Thursday,  December 15, 2005

MIAMI, USA (AFP): Miami surgeons on Wednesday began operating on a 14-year-old Haitian girl with a 16-pound tumor on her face that prevents her from breathing on her own and threatens to blind her.

A team of four doctors were involved in the complex surgery on Marlie Casseus, whose face is so swollen that only her eyes, nostrils and a tooth can be recognized, according to officials at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

"The operation should take about 16 hours," hospital spokeswoman Doris Perez-Benitoa told AFP.

The surgery aims to insert a feeding tube in the girl's stomach, reduce the growth's mass and stop it from pressing on the area around her left eye in a bid to save her sight, according to the International Kids Fund charity, which raised the estimated 95,000 dollars needed for the operation.

"It's important to note that the first surgery will not be cosmetic; she will not come out of the operation without traces of the growth," said Jesus Gomez, the maxillofacial surgeon leading the operation.

Casseus suffers from a rare condition known as polyostotic fibrous dysplasia.

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