Woman Had Two Teeth Removed From Her Left Eye by Doctors After 23 Years

In what seemed like an
unbelievable event, doctors
had their hands full in addition
to their already dazed minds.
Doctors operating on a tumour
in Nagabhushanam Siva's left eye were
stunned to find the two fully-formed teeth
embedded inside.
When asked, the 23 year old said: "I was born
with an abnormal left eye and it continued to
swell over the years. My family was too scared to
send me to see a doctor and during the last few
years it has grown much bigger. I had blurred
vision so eventually I consulted a doctor for help."
Teratoma was the diagnosis that was given to
Nagabhushanam by doctors at a government
hospital in Chennai, southern India. The tumour
had pushed her eye inside its socket and
protruded the skin, blocking her vision and
partially damaging the optic nerve. The growth
also left her unable to move her eyeball and had
developed lazy eye syndrome.
Doctors said they had seen a few past cases of
Teratoma with tooth-like tissues embedded in the
tumour, but fully formed teeth were very rare.
Hospital Director, Dr K Vasantha, said: "A
Teratoma is a mass of tissue that contains cysts
and sometimes contains hard tissues but fully
grown teeth is so very rare."
The removal of the tumour caused severe
damage to Nagabhushanam's optic nerve which
has tragically left her permanently blind.
"Because it was left untreated all these years the
tumour was allowed to grow to extraordinary
lengths. That resulted in the optic nerve
damage," Dr Vasantha added. Orbital Teratomas
are rare embryonic tumors composed of tissues
that grow in the attempt to form an organ.
The first case of this condition was reported 149
years ago. Only 70 such cases have been found
worldwide ever since.